Cologne
by lonemirage14
Summary: It's been nearly nine years since Rory graduated from Yale, and from the outside, she had it all. Then life steps in and pushes her to reflect on how her life has actually been.
1. Chapter 1

Rory stood in her grandfather's study, behind the desk, facing the window. The setting sun coming through the glass cruelly reminded her that this wasn't a dream, that tomorrow she would wake up without him alive and well.

The wake held the previous day had been small, limited to family and close friends. She had moved through receiving line alone, stood before the casket willing herself to cry but it didn't happen. The tightness in her chest had been building up since the frantic and desperate call from her grandmother the week before, but the tears refused to fall.

Now she was hiding out from the crowds who were attending the memorial service at the Gilmore house, following the somber burial that morning. There were too many people, too many "I'm sorry"s and "How are you holding up?"s, so she had escaped into the one room that brought her comfort, the one room belonging to her grandfather alone, and therefore a room no one else would enter.

There was a quick rap on the door and she sighed, unwilling to turn and face the intruder. She closed her eyes, silently begging that the person would turn and walk away. Instead, she heard the door open softly, and the scent of cologne washed over her, holding her heart hostage as she tried to breathe. Only one person she knew, had ever known, wore that cologne.

"Hey …" said the voice behind her, gruff and comforting.

And suddenly, the tears fell rapidly, in big drops as she silently sobbed. It was the one voice she had wanted to hear, the one memory of scent she had needed to surround her. Familiar hands landed on her shoulders, turning her in against him, the arms she had dreamed of wrapping around her waist as he slowly rocked her back and forth.

"I'm so sorry, Rory, I'm so, so sorry this happened." He whispered in her ear, not caring that her wet face was staining the shoulder of his suit.

She circled her arms around his waist and held tightly, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind it may be her only chance to ever be this close to him again. After what seemed like both an eternity and just a moment, she took a deep, shaky breath, and pulled back slowly. He smiled at her sadly, wiping the tear stains from her cheeks as she lost herself in his eyes and the memories that came flooding in.

"Have you eaten anything?" He asked gently, holding her gaze, and she was powerless to lie, shaking her head no in reply.

"I know you're probably not hungry, but you should really eat something. How about I go make the food rounds, bring you back a plate? You can stay in here, and I'll come right back, promise."

He looked at her hopefully and again she was powerless in his presence, nodding her head yes, and allowing him to guide her to her grandfather's desk chair. She gratefully took a seat, and he walked towards the door, turning back to smile at her again before exiting the room.

And just like that, even with the horror of the past week, she felt alive again, really alive, for the first time in years. Everything she had been repressing bubbled now to the surface, and her mind spun, the scent of cologne clinging to her hair.

Logan was back.

**Author's Note: Title inspired by the song "Cologne" by Alexz Johnson**


	2. Chapter 2

Logan had just finished packing up the last box of things from his office when Honor called, the line crackling with static. In a quiet, concerned voice, she told him she had just heard that Richard Gilmore had passed away. In the silent moments after her statement, he sank down into the chair behind him and held his head in his hand, his thoughts immediately on Rory and her well being.

"Logan? Are you there? The service on this cruise is terrible. I told Josh we never should've chosen this route, its too far from anything remotely civilized. Are you going back to Connecticut?" Honor spoke quickly, and Logan nodded his head before realizing she couldn't see him.

"Yea, Honor I'm here. I'll book a flight tonight. Do you know when the services are?" He replied wearily, grabbing a pen and notepad from the box, ready for the details of Richard Gilmore's last public moments.

He was too late for the wake, the next flight out to New York would put him in Hartford around midnight, but he planned to attend the funeral services and the memorial that would follow.

Sitting in the back of the church, he watched Lorelai and Luke in one of the front pews, holding hands, and Lorelai wiped away tears from time to time. He had heard through Honor that the two had gotten married several years before. Rory sat between Lorelai and Emily, her demeanor curiously odd to him. It occurred to him sometime later that she was unnaturally stoic during the entire service, and remained so at the burial. He opted to keep his presence to a minimum, standing several plots away behind the small crowd. He watched Rory, standing next to an equally poised Emily, but they both had on oversized, dark sunglasses and he suspected from the slight shaking in Emily's shoulders that she was trying not to cry. Rory though remained silent and still, her hair blowing slightly in the breeze, and Logan grew more concerned the longer he watched her. She had always been emotional, never good at hiding anything for a long period of time, and her attachment to her grandfather should've meant a greater display of grief than the one he was watching now.

He wasted an hour at a coffee shop, not wanting to show up at the Gilmore residence the moment the memorial service began. When he finally arrived and turned his keys over to the valet, he suddenly felt short of breath. The goal so far that day had been to be present but under the radar, but now, it was time to find Rory and he was terrified of her reaction.

Lorelai caught his eye not long after he entered the front door, and she walked over to him, smiling sadly.

"Logan, good to see you, thank you for coming." Lorelai said, a bit shakily, her eyes still glassy with tears.

"Of course, I'm so sorry to hear about your father, he was a great man." Logan replied.

"Yes, he was, thank you. Rory is in his study, if you'd like to see her. She's not handling this that well ... " Lorelai trailed off, her eyes drifting to the study door, concern on her face.

"I would love to see her, I came here as much for her as I did Richard."

Lorelai smiled a small, knowing grin and nodded her blessing before heading over to Emily.

Logan made his way to the study, hands in his pockets, taking deep breaths and reminding himself that he was here for Rory first, and his own feelings for her would have to wait for a better time. He knocked on the door and entered quietly, looking up to find Rory standing behind the desk, her back towards him.

She looked thin, he could tell from the door, and he knew she probably hadn't eaten much since her grandfather had passed. It broke his heart to see her standing alone in that room, her arms crossed and head down.

"Hey ..." he said, softly.

Rory's head shot up and within seconds she was sobbing, her shoulders shaking and her hands covering her face. Logan walked quickly towards and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her into him and holding her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Rory, I'm so, so sorry this happened." He said, noting absently that her hair still smelled the same.

Rory wrapped her arms around his waist and he prayed like he never had before that she still had a shred of feeling left for him. All too soon, she pulled back and looked up at him, and her drawn face reminded him again that she looked too thin.

"Have you eaten anything?" He asked, holding her gaze, the sad blue eyes red from crying.

Rory shook her head, and let her hand rest on his forearm. He could feel her skin, it burned through the suit jacket and his shirt.

"I know you're probably not hungry, but you should really eat something. How about I go make the food rounds, bring you back a plate? You can stay in here, and I'll come right back, promise."

She nodded to him, and he moved her gently to the desk chair before walking back towards the door. He turned back, smiling at her hopefully before exiting.

He weaved his way quickly and quietly through the mourners, heading for the buffet table set up in the dining room. He grabbed a plate and kept his head down, trying not to draw attention to himself, and focused on selecting items that would hopefully tempt Rory into eating something. He caught Lorelai's eye, raised the plate in his hand gestured towards the study to indicate what he was doing. She nodded and mouthed "Thank You" before turning back to her father's former colleague.

Quickly returning, he opened the door with one hand while balancing the plate and silverware in the other hand. Rory was where he had left her, in Richard's desk chair, her eyes glazed over.

"I got a mix of everything, doubled up on those salmon puffs Emily always serves." He said lightly, placing the plate at the edge of the desk and pulling up another chair. He set down two forks and pushed one towards her. She picked it up but didn't make a move towards the plate.

"You know," he began, formulating his plan quickly before continuing, "as much as I'm sure Richard appreciates everyone coming out, I can almost see him rolling his eyes at the salmon puffs and stuffy suits out there. I think I've got a better way to toast to his memory."

Rory looked up at him with interest, gesturing for him to continue.

"I say we take one of his cigars and a couple glasses of scotch out to the pool and enjoy them, the way he would've. I bet the Richard of his Yale days would do the same thing."

"I think he would too." She replied, smiling slightly.

"There's just one catch. Your grandfather liked some seriously good scotch, and it shouldn't be had on an empty stomach. So eat up, Gilmore, we've got some drinking to do."

She studied his face for a moment and he hoped he hadn't pushed the food thing too hard on her. After a few seconds, she picked up the fork and started to pick at the options in front of her.

30 minutes later, Logan had two glasses filled with Richard's scotch and Rory was studying the cigar selection in the humidor.

"I don't even know what to do with one of these," she said, picking one up gingerly, "its not exactly a family tradition that was passed down."

Logan laughed to himself and took the cigar out of her hand, picking up the cigar cutter with his other hand.

"First, you have to trim the end, like so. And once that's done, you light it, simple enough. Ready?"

Rory nodded and they slipped out of the study, and out the side door. Logan set the two glasses down on a table near the deep end, and took the cigar and lighter from Rory. He flicked open the lighter and brought it to the end of the cigar, rolling it so the flame burned the tip evenly. He puffed a few times the cigar and then passed over to her. She took a sip from her glass before taking the cigar between her fingers and took a few puffs of her own.

"God that is terrible!" She shrieked, quickly handing the cigar back to Logan, who was laughing.

"Takes time to get used to, and its mostly a guy thing. I can't think of another time I've seen a woman smoke a cigar."

"Well, enjoy that. I'll stick with the scotch, thanks." She retorted, taking another large sip of her drink.

They sat on the recliner pool chairs for awhile, silent but peaceful. This wasn't how he had planned to reach out to her again, but he had to work with what he had.

"Rory, I was going to get in touch with you next week, to let you know that I'm moving back, to New York. This certainly wasn't how I wanted to see you again. When Honor called me yesterday, I was packing up my office out in California. I caught the next flight back, I knew I needed to be here for you, in whatever way you need me to be."

She turned to look at him and she couldn't hide the hope on her face. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment, trying to calm his fraying nerves.

"My original plan was to see if you would meet me for coffee, and to clear the air on everything that happened. Its been a long time, and I think we are both in a place where we can speak maturely and rationally about it. But with everything you've got going on right now, I don't want to pressure you or make you feel like you have to talk about it any time soon."

Rory looked up at the sky and swirled her glass, the remains of the scotch spinning in the bottom. She turned towards him and he noticed her hand was shaking slightly.

"I do want to talk to you Logan. Today, when you came in the study, I …" She drifted off, shifting her gaze to the pool and then down.

"You what?" He prompted.

"Nothing, I mean, I just realized that I want to talk to you too, about everything. Maybe when I'm back in the city? I'm taking next week off as well, but I'll be back that Sunday, maybe we can meet then?"

She raised her eyes to him then and he could see how tired and worn down she was, but also anticipation.

"Sure, that sounds good. Why don't you give me a call when you get back to town, and we can meet up."

They smiled at each other and sat awhile longer before the patio door opened and Lorelai stepped out of the house.

"Hey, hate to interrupt, but Mom is looking for you, Rory. Come in soon, ok?" Lorelai said, before heading back inside.

"Well, I guess its time for me to go." Logan said, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice.

"I'll walk you out." Rory replied, and they both headed for the side gate, avoiding the possible trap of meeting up with Emily inside.

The valet brought Logan's car around, and they stood in front of the driver's side, both wanting to say something but nervous to actually speak.

"If you need anything this week, anything at all, you call me, ok? Either way, I'll see you Sunday, yes?"

"Thank you, Logan, for everything today. I know it would've meant a lot to my grandfather, too. I'll see you next weekend."

Logan reached out to hug her from the side and Rory turned into him, wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling him closer to her. The scent of his cologne washed over her again and she struggled to maintain normal breathing. Finally, she let go and he cleared his throat a few times, running his hand over the back of his hair, before smiling at her and hopping in his car.

He had just started to pull away when the front door opened and she cringed at the voice coming towards her.

"Rory Gilmore, was that Logan I just saw pulling out like a race car driver? Really, men and their cars."


	3. Chapter 3

Rory sighed at the sound of her grandmother's voice, and watched Logan's car disappear in the distance, before turning around.

"Yes, Grandma, it was Logan."

"When did he come? How long has he been here? Why didn't you bring him in?" Emily fired off the questions rapidly.

Taking a deep breath, Rory reminded herself that her grandmother had been through a lot in the past week, and a little gossip was probably what she needed.

"A couple of hours ago? He saw Mom and we just talked outside for awhile. He passed along his sympathies to you, as well."

"Well of course he did, that boy is nothing if not polite and socially correct when need be. Will he be in town long?"

"He's moving back to New York."

Emily stopped at the open front door, the glimmer of excitement in her eye was a relief to see after the recent events. Not that Rory wanted to get Emily involved in whatever was going on with Logan, but she supposed some basic information couldn't hurt.

"Well I do hope you see him again, Rory, I think it would be good for you two to talk and reconnect." Emily said seriously, searching Rory's face for any sign of what was to come.

"We plan to meet up when I'm back in the city. Talk things over and clear the air." Rory replied, and they both stepped back into the foyer.

Lorelai had both her coat and Rory's in her arms and she walked over to them.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay the night, Mom? It's really no problem."

"Yes, Lorelai. I have to get used to being in this house alone, might as well start tonight. I'll call you girls in the morning."

Lorelai hesitated for a moment before handing Rory her coat and putting on her own. The day had been fairly warm, but the temperature had dropped after the sunset, and Lorelai would never think of winter the same again.

They exchanged goodnights and Lorelai and Rory walked out to the Jeep, listening to Emily close the heavy door behind them. Luke had headed back to Stars Hollow with Sookie shortly before, to help her unpack the catering supplies at the Dragonfly.

The car was quiet as Lorelai turned out of the driveway and through the neighborhood. They hit a traffic light just as the light changed to red, and Lorelai looked over at Rory.

"So, Logan, huh? I was both surprised and not surprised at all to see him."

"Me too. He was always good at just popping up at the right moment, but I wasn't expecting him either."

"I heard your conversation with my mother, he's moving back to New York? How do you feel about that?"

The light turned green and Lorelai drove forward, unable to watch Rory's expression any longer.

"When I saw him tonight, when I heard his voice, I realized he's been the only person I've wanted to talk to since this all happened. And every feeling I've ever had for him came rushing back. How do I know what's real and what's just nostalgia?"

"Meet up with him, talk, spend some time together. Regardless of the problems you two had, it was a very intense relationship and you both loved each other through the bad and the good. He proposed to you, Rory, and seeing the look on his face tonight, I don't think he's probably moved on that well, either."

"Come on, Mom, I have moved on."

"Rory, be real here. You haven't had a serious relationship since he left. You date and sometimes those relationships last past a few months, but you've never had anything near that level of relationship again. I think you two really need to talk and figure out how you still feel. Maybe you'll find you can move on after that, but maybe you'll find that you're still it for each other."

Rory looked out the side window and contemplated what Lorelai had just said, and she knew it was spot on. No other guy had ever measured up to Logan, and she had long pushed away the fear that no one ever would. Maybe it was time to let the fear in, explore what it would be like to be with Logan again.

* * *

The next morning Rory paced the house alone, Lorelai had gone to check on the inn and Luke was at the diner. She had tried to do some research for an upcoming article, but she couldn't concentrate. She was flipping mindlessly through a 3 month old issue of People when the door rang, and she sprang up, glad to have a task, even a small one.

She opened the door and standing in front of her, weighed down by bags of food from Luke's, was Jess.

"Luke send you over with the entire diner? Let me grab something." Rory said, taking a couple of bags from Jess' hand and leading him into the kitchen.

"He figured you probably wouldn't be putting in any public appearances today, so he sent me over with a large selection for you, highness." Jess joked back, getting a small smirk from Rory.

"Seriously though, I'm really sorry to hear about your grandfather, Rory, I know how much he meant to you." Jess said quietly, giving Rory a hug, and receiving a muffled thanks in reply.

They both sat at the table and sorted through the bags of food, putting aside things that would keep in the fridge, and selecting burgers and fries for themselves.

"It seems like it just happened and it already happened a million years ago, you know? I feel like I'm outside looking in on someone else's life or something. I just can't believe he's gone." Rory said sadly as she dragged a fry through some ketchup.

"It'll take time, it always does. But don't bottle it all up and hide how you feel, you can be good at that. In this type of situation, it's not the best thing to do." Jess responded, taking a bite of his burger.

"I know, I didn't even cry until …" Rory cut herself off, not wanting to bring up Logan to Jess. In the many years since the break up, she and Jess had talked about Logan a few times, but it always ended in an argument.

"Until what?"

"Well … until Logan showed up last night at the memorial service. Hearing his voice brought me back to reality or something. I could just, feel again."

Jess studied Rory for a few minutes afterwards, her tired eyes and shaky hands. In the past several years they had really reconnected as friends and he hated what had happened with her and Logan, but he also knew she couldn't avoid her feelings forever.

"Rory, I'm going to say something that is going to surprise you, and I'm saying this because I care about you and I'm worried about you. That's a pretty big statement you just made about Logan, and if that's how you are feeling, then I think you need to explore that. You have a great job and I know how important your career is to you, but you also need to focus on your personal life. I know you, and I know how lonely you've been since everything happened, even though you act like you aren't. Don't waste any more time wondering about what could've been, find out what things now could be with him."

"You've always had a way with words." Rory commented, taking a sip of the milkshake beside her plate.

"Hey, I am a published author, you know." Jess retorted, laughing.

"You are right though. We planned to talk when I go back at the end of the week, I'm just nervous about how its going to go, and how I'm going to feel afterwards."

"You've never been good with going with the flow, and this isn't a situation where pro/con lists are going to help. You're just going to have to take this one step at a time, be honest with yourself, and with him. We aren't kids anymore, and neither of you are playing games here, its time be real, no matter the outcome."

Rory nodded nervously and Jess directed the conversation to his latest publishing ventures, hoping to get her mind off of the more serious matters at hand.

* * *

Logan sat on the couch in his new place later that afternoon, sorting through the boxes that the movers had delivered earlier in the day. He had chosen a place in the Financial District, to be close to work, but felt no motivation to unpack. He didn't want this place to become permanent, just like his apartments before, because he only wanted to live in the fictional house in his mind. A brownstone in the Village, one that he and Rory would pick out and decorate together, a room for all her books and too much space for them, really, but it would be theirs.

He pulled his carry on bag over to him and unzipped a side pocket, pulling out a small leather pouch. He fished out the small velvet box inside it and flipped it open, looking at the ring he had picked out nine years before, and stared at it a moment before closing the box again and putting it on the coffee table in front of him. He had never gotten rid of it, the thought of someone else wearing it killed him, and he certainly didn't need the money. So it sat in the back of a drawer at every place he had lived, haunting him at night.

His phone buzzed and he picked it up, seeing the text notification on the screen.

 _Rory: Thanks again for coming yesterday. It really meant a lot, more than you know._

Logan almost dropped his phone and sat for a moment, contemplating what to say. It had never taken him this long in his life to write a text message.

 _Logan: You're welcome. It was nice to see you. Looking forward to Sunday._

 _Rory: See you then :)_

Logan grinned at the smiley face in her reply, it meant he had a shot, and he would do everything he could to make the most of it.


	4. Chapter 4

Lorelai and Rory sat at the table together that night, picking through the left over food Luke had sent over, he was finishing the dinner rush. Lorelei half-heartedly took a bite of a chicken wrap and dropped it back in her plate, nothing was appetizing to her at all. Rory stared off into the distance, a half eaten chicken wing resting in the otherwise empty plate.

"So you didn't hear from your grandmother at all today, did you? I tried to call this morning and the maid said she was sleeping. I can't remember a time my mother slept past 7 am."

"Pretty much the same thing here, I tried calling her this afternoon and the maid said Grandma was "indisposed", which sounds exactly like something Grandma would say, so I was inclined to believe her."

"Indisposed? In maid speak that can often mean something else … like the mistress of the house isn't exactly sober." Lorelei responded, wondering if removing the tomatoes from the wrap would help.

"You think Grandma is drinking, as in she's drunk?" Rory responded, contemplating the thought, which would've been funny at any other time.

"Remember what she was like after she found that letter about Pennilyn Lott, when your great-grandmother passed away? She totally spun out of control. She's got a house full of liquor and nowhere to go. I wouldn't be surprised."

"Let's call her tomorrow morning, see if we can get through." Rory said and they both looked at all the food before silently agreeing to pack it back up and put it away.

Luke came home a few hours later to find the pair in the living room, watching TV but each in their own world. He handed them both a donut and a cup of coffee (decaf, but he would never tell them), and went into the kitchen. He sent Jess over earlier with enough food for 10 people, and after a brief survey of the remaining contents in the fridge, it was clear neither Lorelai nor Rory hadn't eaten much.

He returned to the living room to find both of them munching on the donuts and secretly patted himself on the back, neither Gilmore girl could turn down a donut.

* * *

Lorelai was in bed but wide awake, later on, waiting for Luke to finish up in the bathroom. He slid into his side of the bed and pulled her close to him, providing a strength she needed.

"So how are you doing? How's Rory?"

"I'm hanging in there, I guess, I feel like I'm having the most normal reaction."

"What do you mean by that?" Luke asked, turning his head against the pillow so he could see her face more clearly.

"Rory is in a daze, the only thing to bring her remotely close to normal was Logan. I'm worried she's going to isolate herself even more now. She has never been the same since they broke up, but now … I don't know. And my mother isn't taking any calls and the maid said she was "indisposed", which conjures up images of my mother in a slip with the strap falling down, a cigarette in one hand and a highball in the other."

Luke suppressed a smile at Lorelai's depiction of an indisposed Emily and ran his hand over his face, thinking about what to say. Words had never really been his strong suit.

"I think Rory needs time to accept this, in her own way. Maybe talking to Logan again is going to pull her out of it, as much as I disliked the kid back then, I do give him credit for coming to the services. And as far as your mother is concerned, she needs to grieve in her own way, too. Call her again the morning, maybe she will answer."

* * *

Two mornings later, and there still had been no word from Emily, just brief conversations with the maid. Rory and Lorelai were up early, getting ready for the reading of Richard's will, taking place early that afternoon.

Lorelai picked up the phone and dialed her mother's number again.

"Gilmore Residence." The maid announced stiffly and Lorelai held back a scream of frustration.

"Celia, its Lorelai. Is my mother available?"

"No, Mrs. Gilmore is -"

"Indisposed, I know." Lorelai cut the maid off angrily.

"I knocked on her bedroom door a short time ago, and she wouldn't come out. I reminded her of the appointment with the lawyer, but she just told me to go away. I'm sorry, m'am."

Lorelai sighed and gathered her composure. It wasn't the maid's fault that Emily was clearly spiraling.

"Rory and I are coming over, don't say anything to her. This has got to stop, we need to meet with her lawyer, and she certainly can't do that from her bedroom."

* * *

Celia opened the front door to the Gilmore house and Lorelai marched in with Rory trailing behind her. The dining room and living room looked completely unused, which was proof that Emily hadn't ventured downstairs in a few days.

"She's still in her bedroom, m'am. I've been leaving trays of food outside her door, and she seems to be eating, but I haven't actually seen her since the night of the memorial." Celia said worriedly, running up the stairs behind Lorelai.

Rory paused on the stairs, the bar cart catching her eye. Memories of her grandfather making drinks and always keeping a soda for her there, in her younger years, filtered into her mind and she stifled a sob. First thing was first, deal with Grandma, get to the lawyer, and then she would allow herself a total break down in the privacy of her Stars Hollow bedroom.

Lorelai knocked on the master bedroom door, silence meeting her between each knock. Celia grabbed the breakfast tray from the floor and scurried back downstairs, passing by Rory on the way down.

"Mom? Come on, Mom, I know you're in there. We have a meeting with the lawyer this afternoon, and you need to get ready."

Both Lorelai and Rory listened at the door and heard a muffled bang, followed by a swear, somewhere in the distance.

"That's it! We are coming in!" Lorelei yelled through the door and turned the knob, pushing against whatever was on the other side.

Rory slipped through the partially opened door and moved the chair that had been blocking the door. The curtains were drawn and the room reeked of smoke. In the dim light they picked through the strewn clothes on the floor and made their way to the massive walk in closet.

Emily was reclined on the chaise lounge in her dressing gown, a large diamond necklace on, smoking a cigar and drinking what appeared to be a martini. Something clear at least in a martini glass and Lorelai doubted it was water. The scene was pretty close to what she had been imagining, but far more depressing in person.

"Lorelai, Rory, well hello. What are you doing here? I thought I told Celia that I am indisposed!" Emily said, speaking the last sentence around the cigar she had popped back in her mouth.

"Yea, yea, we heard you were all Grey Gardens up in here and I figured you were making a pretty good dent in the liquor cabinet, but the cigar? Its too much. Not even Daisy Buchanan was this dramatic." Lorelai retorted, knowing her comments were mean, but she was angry and hoped that a smart remark would drag her mother out of this stupor.

"Ah well, Daisy had two men after her, no matter that Gatsby died for her. At least she had that other one, her husband, though he was vile and that friend of hers, the golf player? Such a fair weather friend, no use at all. Poor Nick, such an innocent man, trying to help his siren of a cousin and that Jay Gatsby -"

"Grandma! We've all read The Great Gatsby, myself more times than I can remember, so we don't need a recap. Get up, we need to be at the lawyer's in a few hours and you can't go in there drunk." Rory snapped and Emily's mouth fell open, the cigar nearly dropping in her lap.

"Rory, how dare you speak to me in that tone!" Emily replied haughtily, taking another swig from her martini glass before Lorelai pulled it away from her.

"She's right, Mom. I'm going to ring down for coffee. Several vats. Now get in the shower and sober up a bit." Lorelei ordered and Emily huffed in dismay before making her way slowly into the bathroom.

While Lorelai called Celia on the house phone and discussed coffee and eggs and a lot of toast, Rory found herself nearly smiling at what had just happened. Of course it wasn't funny that her grandmother was in such a state, but seeing her there with the cigar, going on about Gatsby, it was just the thing Logan would appreciate. She hesitated for a moment after she pulled out her phone, pulling up her text messages, her fingers lingering on the screen before opening the message thread between her and Logan.

 _Rory: It's 10 am, where do you think Emily Gilmore is?_

Rory chewed on her lip waiting for a response, listening vaguely to the sound of the shower turning on and her grandmother yelling something about hair curlers.

 _Logan: Commanding a very intense meeting at the DAR? Reviewing the finer points of salmon puffs with a caterer?_

 _Rory: Drunk. She is drunk in her dressing gown, raving about The Great Gatsby with a martini glass in one hand and a cigar in the other hand._

 _Logan: I see the family tradition was passed down to one generation at least. I hope you are taking notes on the ladylike way to smoke a cigar._

Rory laughed out loud for a moment and then covered her mouth quickly with her hand. It didn't feel right to laugh yet but she appreciated Logan's light humor.

 _Rory: Reading of the will in a few hours, better go sober her up. Thank you for the laugh, I needed it._

 _Logan: Any time, Gilmore. I'm here for anything from laughs to recommendations on cigars to build your collection. ;)_

"Lorelai get in here! I can't do anything with my hair like this! I need help!" Emily yelled from the bathroom and Rory slipped her phone back in her bag, running into the bathroom behind her mother. It was going to be a long, long day.


	5. Chapter 5

Two hours later, Emily was full of coffee and had been wrestled into the back seat of her Mercedes for the drive over to the lawyer's office. The three women now approached the old Tudor house, the offices of Sandringham and Barrow inside.

"So he isn't related to the the Queen? Doesn't she have an estate called Sandringham? I could've sworn I read that recently in a magazine." Lorelai said as they walked up the steps and rang the doorbell.

"Lorelai, really, this is not the time to joke. If he were related to the Queen, he would be sitting on her royal court drinking tea with her Highness on a regular basis, not living in Hartford, for God's sake." Emily snapped and Lorelai rolled her eyes at Rory.

A secretary opened the door and led them inside, taking their jackets and leading them to a seating area outside of an office.

"Seriously, Mom, who is this again? Dad knew so many lawyers, its hard to keep them straight."

"This is Robert Sandringham, who's father, William, handled our accounts until he retired. Robert took them over about 5 years ago. Your father mostly dealt with him."

Rory glanced around the large, paneled room and was reminded of her time in Yale spent in similar buildings. She was dreading this appointment but flipped through her mental to do list. Crossing this item off was one step closer to full melt down later that night.

"Emily, so good to see you, how are you holding up?" said Robert Sandringham as he opened the door to his office and came to greet them.

"As good as can be expected in these circumstances, Robert, thank you for asking." Emily replied, reverting to her usual socially on point self.

"And this must be your daughter and granddaughter. Lorelai, Rory, so good to meet you, I'm sorry it is under these unfortunate circumstances."

Rory and Lorelai both nodded back at him awkwardly and he led them into his office, closing the door behind him.

"Now, what we are going to do today is review the larger points of the will - what has been left to each of you and that sort of thing. Emily, at a later time we can meet again to discuss the logistics of the house maintenance, automobiles, etc."

Robert pulled a large envelope out of a desk drawer and removed three letter size envelopes, each one addressed to one of the women before him.

"First things first, Richard left a letter for each of you. He updated them once a year, these were written pretty recently. As far as the bulk of the estate, it goes to you, Emily with some exceptions. Lorelai, Richard has left you several investment accounts, which you can either liquidate or continue to build on, along with some smaller personal effects, here is a list of those.

I can put you in touch with his broker to discuss the best decisions for you to make. Rory, besides your trust fund, your grandfather had another account set up for you, which you will receive access to upon your 35th birthday. Additionally, he has left you his record collection and complete library."

Rory looked down at the letter in her hands, her vision becoming blurry. The letter, the account, the records and books, it was all too much at once. Lorelai reached over and grabbed one of her hands, squeezing reassuringly, and Rory looked up, squeezing Lorelai's hand back in return. She didn't hear a word of what Robert was saying, her mind drifting to the time she and Logan had packed up some of her grandfather's records to take to him in the hospital. It had meant so much to him, having those records near by and his books within reach, she felt a huge responsibility to care for the collections properly.

"Well, then, I think that is all we need to cover today. Emily, I'll have Sheila give you a call late next week to set up a time to discuss some further details. Let me walk you out."

The three Gilmore women all stood shakily, walking silently in single file behind Robert and to the front door. Emily murmured some sort of goodbye while Lorelai and Rory stood blankly by. Emily looked at the envelope still in her hand, and seemed to have a short internal conversation with herself. After a moment, she inhaled deeply, put the envelope in her bag, and stood up straight, adjusting her blazer.

"Well, I don't know about you girls, but I am simply starving. Let's go to Maine." Emily stated as she walked purposefully towards the car. Lorelei and Rory looked at each other, confused, and hustled after her.

"Maine? As in a new restaurant I don't know about that's named after the state?" Lorelai questioned as Emily practically shoved her into the driver's seat.

"No, I mean the state, Lorelai. Why would someone name a restaurant after a state? That would be confusing. Rory are you in? Come on let's go."

"Um, Grandma? Maine is like 3 hours away. That's a pretty long trip for lunch." Rory said meekly in the back, trying not to irritate Emily even more.

"Yea mom, its a long drive, and that's just to the state line. It could be hours beyond that, depending on where this mysterious lunch spot is."

"Well, then, we'll just have to stay the night. Drive, Lorelai, Maine is north, drive north." Emily demanded, and Lorelai groaned before backing out the parking space.

 _Emotional break down_ rescheduled, Rory thought, knowing she still had a few more days in Stars Hollow to get herself together.

* * *

Four hours later, they were north of Portland and on the coast, searching for what seemed to be a mythical seafood shack.

"It must be around here somewhere, Richard dragged me up here 5 or 6 years ago, craving a lobster roll he said. There are plenty of places to get a lobster roll in Connecticut or even Massachusetts, but no, we had to come to some place that has been around since his Yale days. He went on and on about it. Keep driving, Lorelai." Emily rambled on, looking sternly out the window while Rory attempted to Google lobster roll on her phone, in hopes of finding a place.

Unfortunately her cell service seemed to have disappeared 20 minutes before and they would have to rely on Emily's memory to find the place. Lorelai was just about to give up, literally, as the road they on came dangerously close to the shore, when Emily suddenly jumped up in her seat and pointed wildly in front of her.

"There it is! Bill's Lobster Hut! What a dreadful name that is, who wants to eat a hut?"

"Um, I do, Mom. I'm starving at this point, at least something is open around here." Lorelai commented, remembering the multitude of places they had passed on the way, most of them closed for the season.

Lorelai pulled the car up into a mostly empty little parking lot along the beachfront and the three walked towards Bill's Lobster Hut. The desolation of the off season reminded Rory of the first time her and Logan had gone to Martha's Vineyard together. It was her first real trip with a boyfriend, no other family or friends, just the two of them for three days on the island, staying at the Huntzberger "beach cottage" which was more like a beach castle.

Logan had taken her to a long time favorite of his, one of the few seafood shacks open year round on the island, and the two of them had sat at one of the outdoor tables, eating seafood and throwing crumbs to the seagulls. Rory had underestimated the wind coming off the water, and Logan had wrapped his sweatshirt around her, zipping up the front before they took a walk along the beach. It had occurred to her that weekend that this relationship with Logan was far different than anything she had ever experienced. She had conveniently forgotten to return the sweatshirt, and it became a favorite of hers to wear around her dorm room. It smelled of Logan's cologne and did for years after they broke up, she still had it in the bottom drawer of a dresser.

Emily waited impatiently for them at the door and huffed until the three of them entered the restaurant together. Lorelei's kitschy side loved the cheesy decor and loved even more her mother's reaction of detest towards it. Rory's stomach grumbled and she realized how little she'd been eating lately.

The restaurant was mostly empty and Emily stepped up to the counter, the half asleep teenager manning the cash register looking up and asking lazily for their order.

"We'll take 3 lobster rolls and 3 drinks, I see you have one of those bacteria breeding soda machines for us to use. Anything else, girls?"

"We'll take an order of fried clams as well, and some fries, oh and 3 clam chowders, too." Lorelai responded, also realizing how hungry she was.

They filled their cups at the soda machine, Emily muttering under her breath about the health department not doing their job, and took seats next to the window, it was too cold to sit outside. The same teenager brought their food over shortly after.

"Richard really loved this awful place, I don't know why. And this lobster roll. We were planning to come back for a longer trip this summer, I guess that won't happen now." Emily said wistfully, taking a bite of the roll.

Rory and Lorelai looked at each other then back at the food in front of them. It all made sense, the rush to come up, the need for the lobster rolls, the frantic nature of Emily's push to take the trip. Emily would never come back here with Richard, never complain about the place while he smiled and watched her secretly enjoy the lobster roll and the fries she gave in to eating alongside it. Now he was watching Emily, from some place beyond, silently sobbing over the plate of fried clams while Lorelai handed her tissues and Rory moved to sit next to her, the full force of his death finally hitting her.


	6. Chapter 6

Rory woke up early the next morning, her and Lorelai were sharing a room in a small beachfront hotel down the street from Bill's Lobster Hut, Emily in the room next to them. The sun had just risen and Rory slipped from the bed, leaving a note for Lorelai before exiting the room and quietly shutting the door.

She walked through the pool area and onto the sandy beach path, zipping up her jacket against the wind. High tide was rolling in and the waves crashed loudly in the distance, the smell of salt becoming stronger. She spread out a beach towel in the sand sat down, crossing her arms over bent knees, watching the fog break up over the water.

The envelope from her grandfather was tucked in her bag, seemingly burning a hole through the side. Rory pulled it out and carefully opened it, not wanting to tear the envelope any more than necessary. She took a deep breath and pulled the letter out, preparing herself for whatever her grandfather had to say.

 _Dear Rory,_

 _If you are reading this letter, than I am gone and I'm terribly sorry that you are having to deal with my absence. As a parent and a grandparent, all you want is to see your children and grandchildren grow old, but it isn't possible to stay around that long, I'm afraid._

 _I only have one regret in this life, Rory, and I regret that I missed so much of your childhood. Getting to know you has been one of the greatest joys of my life, and I hope you know how incredibly proud of you I am. You have achieved great accomplishments in your life, but you are also a thoughtful and kind young woman._

 _My one fear for you is that you will not open yourself up again to love. You have never been quite the same since your relationship with Logan, and I don't want you to shut people out. I'm sure you are thinking I'm wrong as you read this, but listen to your grandfather one last time, and you'll see that I am in fact right in this matter._

 _Having a successful career can be hugely fulfilling, but it can also be incredibly lonely. You can have the balance of love and a career, without sacrificing either. Your past experiences don't define you, they are part of your past and you can step beyond that._

 _If he is the gentleman I know and believe is, Logan has come to my services. Let him in, Rory, talk with him, really talk, and figure out what you still mean to each other. Logan and I are very similar in certain ways, one of those being only really loving one woman in our lives. I can near guarantee that he still loves you, and I know that you still love him._

 _So, my dear girl, enjoy your life, and make every moment count. Explore the great city you live in, your country, and the world. Do it with Logan by your side. Be happy. When your time ends, I'll be waiting to meet you, arms open._

 _Love always,_

 _Grandpa_

Tears streamed down Rory's face as she folded the letter with shaking hands and returned it to her bag. She didn't know how she was going to get through the next hour, the next day, the next month without being able to talk to her grandfather. No more phone calls, visits, long chats about books and future trips to visit ancient places.

Eventually she laid back onto the towel, staring up at the grey sky, seemingly as sad as she felt. She let the grief take hold and her hair soak up the tears still running down her cheeks. She thought of Logan, of what her grandfather said, and she knew he was right. She did still love Logan and had to give it another shot. They had already wasted so much time apart.

Lorelai watched from a distance for awhile, knowing that Rory had to grieve alone. She hadn't read her own letter yet, not ready to see what her father had written, but she guessed that Rory had read hers this morning. She hoped that whatever that letter said pushed Rory to be more open, to reconsider things with Logan, to at least figure out where they stood on their relationship and what had happened in the past.

After what seemed like the entire day, Rory turned her head to the left and saw her mother standing in the distance, walking towards her. She sat up and wiped her face the best she could, knowing her eyes would be puffy and red.

"Doing ok, kid?" Lorelai asked quietly as she gave Rory a hand and pulled her up. Rory threw her arms around her mother, and they stood hugging for a few minutes, no words needed.

"Your grandmother is champing at the bit to get home, because clearly it wasn't her idea to come up here." Lorelei said sarcastically, earning a small laugh from Rory.

"Well, we better go while we can. Next thing you know, she'll have us driving to Nova Scotia or something." Rory responded, grabbing the towel and walking back to the hotel hand in hand with her mother.

* * *

They got back to Stars Hollow around dinner time, Emily had insisted that she could handle being alone. Lorelai asked Celia to monitor the situation and call if things started to go south. They parked in town and Lorelai went to the diner, while Rory headed over to Lane and Zack's place.

Zack had taken Kwan and Steve to an early movie so that the girls could have some alone time. Lane had picked up burritos and they settled on the couch with a bad TV movie on and junk food ready.

"So your grandmother dragged you and Lorelai to Maine? She must've been out of her mind." Lane commented around a bite of her burrito.

"It was nuts. And then she had a break down at this lobster shack my grandfather had taken her to once. It was seriously one of the saddest things I've ever seen, it was like it hit her all at once that he's gone."

"And how are you doing with everything? You go back to the city this weekend, right?"

"I'm hanging in there. Maine turned out to be kind of cathartic for me. My grandfather left a letter for me with his lawyer, and he told me to let Logan in. I want to, but I'm also terrified of what will happen when I do. All this time, there's been the possibility that he's out there, thinking of me too, and what if that's not enough? Or what if he hasn't been thinking of me at all?" Rory rambled nervously, chewing on her nail.

"Rory, you know he still feels something for you. He didn't show up the other day purely out of societal duty. I think you've been waiting for him to make a move, and he did, a big one. You haven't let any other guy in, and that's because you still want Logan. You've got to take this chance now, you can't let fear control your life. The man proposed to you, and he was hurt by your reaction and everything that followed, you can't fault him for that. Neither of you can take away what happened, but you can start a new chapter together."

"You're right. I just need to be totally honest with him on Sunday, and no matter what happens, I know I gave it a second shot."

"Exactly. Now tell me, is he as hot as ever, or more hot with age?" Lane asked, dodging a pillow.

"Lane!"

"Oh come on, Rory, that boy always looked good in a suit. Give me something here, I'm a mom of twin boys, all I hear about is video games and sports and science stuff. I need a little girl talk!"

"Fine. He looks better than ever, ok? Age works for him." Rory consented.

"I knew it!" Lane shrieked and Rory laughed as she gave details on Logan's hair.

Later that night, unable to sleep, Rory thought about the looks Logan had given her the other day, and she knew he still felt something too. She just hoped it was enough to start over.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews and likes and follows! We've got a lot of story to go here, I hope you all like this chapter!**

Rory arrived back in the city on Saturday night, parking her car in a garage a few blocks from her place. After her time on the campaign trail ended, she had moved back to Stars Hollow for a few months to write freelance and figure out her next move. Christopher had surprised her shortly after by purchasing a two bedroom on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. At first Rory was determined to make it on her own, but her more rational side quickly realized that on a starting salary at a paper, she'd need roommates, and ultimately accepted the gift. The deeded parking space a few blocks didn't hurt and shortly after she moved in, a superior coffee shop opened two blocks up on West 4th, and she was hooked to the neighborhood.

She walked up the two flights to her place and flipped on the light as she walked in the door, noticing a note on her foyer table.

 _I left you Thai food in the fridge - eat!_

 _Call me tomorrow night after you see Huntzberger, switching to day shifts now, should be home by 5._

 _Paris_

Rory smiled and shook her head at Paris, butting in as usual, but she was grateful for the food delivery. Paris was in her last year of a residency at New York-Presbyterian through Columbia and her and Doyle lived uptown. Paris has been on nights recently, so she had been checking on Rory nearly every morning in the past few weeks by text before getting some sleep. Despite how infuriating Paris could be, over the years since Yale they had developed an even closer friendship, and Rory knew that she was on a very short list of people that Paris both liked and trusted. Logan was definitely not on that list, meaning their phone call the following night after meeting up with him would be interesting, to say the least.

Rory made a plate of food and threw it in the microwave, unpacking some of her things while it was heating up. She had been hesitant at first about the apartment, hoping it didn't scream "my dad is a millionaire" to her friends, but over time she grew to love it and realized how great a gift it had been when the rent in the city started skyrocketing several years back.

She took her plate into her office and opened the bottom drawer of an old wooden dresser that had been in storage at the Dragonfly before her mother finally decided she didn't need another piece of furniture. She pulled out Logan's sweatshirt, closing her eyes for a moment, before grabbing the box beneath it.

It was her "Logan" box: jewelry, little notes, photos of them, keys to his old New York and New Haven apartments. The Birkin bag lived in the other side of the drawer. She kept one thing that he had given her out of the dresser, and it was a leather messenger bag he had given her as an early graduation present, a few days before the disastrous proposal. She had taken it with her on the campaign trail, unable to let go of it, and allowed herself attachment to that one thing. Occasionally she would wear some of the jewelry, but mostly it was too painful to look at.

Tomorrow, though, she wanted to send him a message that she had been thinking of him all this time. She was afraid she'd screw up the conversation, and wearing something he had given her would at least be a sign that she wanted to try. After some debate, the diamond hoop earrings Logan had given her for their last Christmas together won out among the other items.

Absentmindedly polishing them, Rory contemplated her closet and realized it would be a very long night of deciding on an outfit. She had messaged Logan earlier, and they decided to meet at her favorite coffee shop. It felt like a safe choice, close to home in case it went badly, and a casual setting to make sure things didn't get too serious, too quickly.

* * *

The next morning, Logan made a solid disaster of his own closet, pulling and tossing aside shirts and pants, sweaters and shoes, trying to come up with something that felt right to wear. Whatever that was, he didn't know, but he eventually decided on jeans and a button down shirt with boots, casual but not too casual. _Dressy but not too dressy,_ he thought, _but just nice enough. I need to stop talking to myself._

Rory meanwhile was in full on panic mode at her own apartment. She planned to get there early, grab her favorite table in the back, and get at least one cup of coffee going before Logan arrived at 2 pm. After shoveling down some more of the Thai food from Paris, she forced herself to calm down and squeezed her shaking hands together before putting in the earrings.

2 hours later, Logan stood across the street from the coffee shop, 4th and Bean, and took a deep breath. He had never been this nervous in his life and he knew this was really his best and possibly only shot to get things back on track with Rory.

He crossed the street and opened the door to the shop. He scanned the room for a moment before spotting Rory in a back corner table, studiously reading the paper and drinking a very large coffee. He couldn't help but smile, the sight was still so familiar to him after all this time, and he knew that she hadn't changed so much that they wouldn't work anymore. They could. They would if he played his cards right.

"Hey, Gilmore." He said quietly, walking up to the table. Rory looked up, slightly disoriented, and then smiled back at him. He noticed that she was wearing the pair of hoop earrings he had given her.

"Hey, Logan. Have a seat." She replied and he took the chair across from her. A waitress came over and took his order and then left the two of them in what seemed to suddenly be a very small corner.

"How's everything back at home? Emily and Lorelai?" Logan asked.

"We're all hanging in there. I think once Grandma really realized the situation she's handling things much better. Of course my mom is calling the house at least once a day and having the maid text her reports every three hours, but life goes on, you know? Mom has the Inn, I have work, Grandma still has the DAR, and all the ladies are flocking like hens to help, so thats good at least."

There was a pause as his cup was placed on the table, and he pulled it closer, needing a distraction to steady his hands.

"So …." Logan began, not quite sure where to start.

"So …." Rory replied back, nervously playing with the spoon next to her mug.

"I guess I'll start? I am really, really sorry Rory for the way everything went down. I was terrified at the prospect of moving across the country without you, and I thought the only way we could stay together was to get married. I didn't meant to embarrass you or put you in a bad situation, I just … I don't know, I was kind of drowning in fear and proposing to you was the one thing keeping me afloat. Nothing was a 100% given, the job, making money, succeeding out there. The one thing I knew, without a doubt, was I loved you." Logan's voice shook slightly as he spoke.

Rory sat quietly for a few minutes before responding, collecting her thoughts into something coherent.

"It wasn't the right time, but me saying no never meant that I didn't love you. I needed to be successful on my own, and being engaged, California, everything that went with it felt like it was threatening my freedom to really pursue my career. I'm sorry that I never responded to your emails after, I was confused and hurt you walked away, but I also should've tried to give you more of an explanation. My whole life has been focused on being a journalist, and I was so blindsided when you came into my life. You were the first guy I ever considered making sacrifices for, and honestly, that was really scary for me. Things with my mom and my dad, and my mom and Luke, at that time were all upside down and complicated, and all I could see was the pain they were causing each other. I couldn't see that for my mom and Luke, the pain inflicted was because they should've been together at the time and they weren't. And for me, nothing has been the same since you walked away that day."

Logan studied Rory's face for awhile, contemplating her words. Something had been bothering him since the day of the memorial, something she had started to say but hadn't finished.

"At the memorial service, when we were out by the pool, you started to say something about me coming into the study, but you cut yourself off. What were you going to say?" Logan asked, and Rory bit her lip, nervous.

"When you came in to the study, I smelled your cologne first, and I knew it was you. And when you spoke, it was the one sound I needed to hear. I hadn't cried at all, until I heard your voice and … I just knew that I would be ok to feel again, if you were there." Rory finally responded, not daring to look in Logan's eyes.

Logan, meanwhile, felt like he was having some type of panic attack from her words. He had so longed to hear words like that, from her, it was overwhelming and nearly unbelievable. He knew it was time to lay everything out on the table.

"Rory, I still love you. I loved you from the moment you and I jumped off that tower together. I have loved you every day that we've been apart, and I don't see myself ever stopping, so if I have any hope of taking a second chance with you, please, let's take that chance. I don't think I can survive walking out of here without that chance."

Rory watched Logan's face, as sincere as ever, and felt her own heart pounding. It was such a monumental moment her life, in their lives. Her grandfather's voice was in her mind, telling her to jump and seize this moment, make the most of it.

"I love you, too, Logan. I meant what I said, about not being the same. It's taken me really until this past week to realize it. I haven't been in a serious relationship since we broke up. I work too much and spend way too much time with Paris and Doyle for it to be healthy. I've been lonely and you're who I really miss."

"So are we really doing this? Giving it another shot?" Logan asked hopefully, his fingers itching to grab Rory's hand.

"I think we need to take things slowly. I don't want to use you as a way to hide from grieving right now, and I don't want us to rush into things and have it all blow up. We're older, I'm sure we've both changed, and I think we need to get to know each other again. I also have some loose ends to tie up, I was sort of dating this guy and I need to break that off." Rory admitted, unwilling now to look up.

"It is what it is, I would fully expect the entire male population of this city to be trying to date the Rory Gilmore, New York Times reporter. Honestly I'd be more surprised if you weren't dating. I have an idea - let's meet back here, two Sundays from now, 6 pm. It'll give you some time to deal with everything that's been going on and as you said, tie up loose ends. We both have a lot to think on and you're right, we shouldn't rush. If we are both here in two weeks, I'll take you to dinner, and we take this second chance. But no talking, texting, calling, in between now and then. Make it a clear cut decision on both sides. Deal?"

"Deal." Rory responded.

They both finished the last of their coffees and stepped back out on to the sidewalk.

"Well, I'll see you in two weeks, then." Rory said, pulling out her sunglasses and putting her mittens back on.

Logan grabbed her hand before the second mitten got there and stroked her palm with his thumb for a long moment, his skin burning from the contact. She didn't pull away, and he let himself indulge in the feeling for a few seconds more before stepping back slightly.

"Gilmore, I can 100% guarantee I will be in front of this coffee shop in two weeks, and I will not leave here until I see you. And by the way, I noticed the earrings."


	8. Chapter 8

Rory didn't sleep much that night, replaying the conversation with Logan in her mind over and over again. She attempted to explain to Paris what happened, but Paris being Paris, cut the recap short after about 5 minutes and insisted that they meet the next evening for dinner and to discuss the situation further.

* * *

The next morning, Rory headed into the office early, wanting to get a jump on the emails that were awaiting her before a meeting with editor to catch up on what she had missed. She spent most of the day trying to focus on the newest piece that she was researching, but her mind kept drifting back to Logan, and she drank twice the usual amount of coffee to stay focused. She signed off a little after 5 pm and hurried out to meet Paris at a small tapas restaurant over on east 52nd. Paris had gotten a table and was looking impatient, as usual.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, a lot to catch up on today." Rory said as she dropped into the seat across from Paris.

"No doubt made more complicated by thoughts of a certain Huntzberger. Let's order first, I'm starved." Paris replied smartly, and Rory rolled her eyes behind the menu shoved into her hand.

Twenty minutes later, after Paris' blood sugar had started to return to normal and Rory had stopped shoveling food into her mouth at a breakneck speed, the conversation veered back towards the looming topic.

"So. Logan. Logan and you. Again." Paris stated, her eyebrow going up.

"Yes, Paris. Come on, you know I haven't dated anyone seriously since him, and I know its because I still love him. I need to give this a shot."

"But are you really sure you want to get dragged into that world again? Deal with Mitchum and that floozy? Life and Death Brigade antics?"

"Logan hasn't worked for his dad in nearly 10 years, his company has been successful without any help from Mitchum. As for the rest of his family, I can deal with them. I still talk to Honor occasionally and according to my grandmother, things are pretty cold between Mitchum and Shira, apparently Shira is at some spa practically every week. We're both older now, Logan never let his parents' opinion of me matter before, and I think he's even less inclined to do that now."

"Have you thought about what's going to happen when it becomes public that you and Logan are dating again? A New York Times reporter reuniting with her college boyfriend, who just happens to be the son of a newspaper giant, as repulsive as Mitchum is? People will talk." Paris said pointedly, before stabbing her fork back into her plate.

"I'm just going to have to deal with whatever comes. I've been at the Times for 5 years now, and I clearly was hired without any influence from the Huntzbergers in general. I'm tired of waiting around for someone to make me feel even half of how Logan still makes me feel. Its time to give it another chance, throw caution to the wind and all that. I need to be all in, no debating or making lists, give it 100% without worrying over any bad outcomes."

Rory took a large sip of wine while Paris studied her for a moment. It had been a long time since she had seen Rory this determined about anything, besides her job, and it was good to see. As much as she hadn't liked Logan back in college, she knew some of it had to do with the fact her parents had left her broke and watching Logan with his car service and fancy apartments had made it all the more painful.

"Then I've got your back on this. You deserve to be happy, Rory, and if that's with Logan, then so be it. But if he hurts you, he better watch his back. Doyle and I still practice Krav Maga weekly." Paris said resolutely.

"Thank you, Paris, I appreciate it. And I promise to tell Logan that you and Doyle are still nuts." Rory responded, laughing.

"Although, you know you have to break things off with Josh as soon as possible."

"Yea, I know. We haven't even been on that many dates, but he's so into it, and now I feel even worse. Now its not that I'm just not into it dating at all, but there's another guy, too. I know if I don't tell him about Logan he will try to convince me to go out with him again, and that clearly is not going to work."

* * *

That Friday night after work, Rory met Josh at a bar in midtown, trying to keep the situation casual. They had met at a holiday staff party, Josh worked in the advertising department, and had been out 4 or 5 times since. Rory found him reasonably good looking and he clearly was intelligent, but she felt no attraction to him at all, and had planned to break it off at some point soon anyways. The problem was Josh could be very convincing when he wanted to be, and she knew he would try to talk her out of ending the short relationship.

"So, how was it being back this week? Busy I would think." Josh commented as he took the first sip from his beer.

"Very. I've got a stack of possible feature leads still to sort through, but I should have most of it sorted out by early next week." Rory replied.

"Are you up for maybe grabbing dinner Sunday night?"

"Josh, I, um, that's kind of the reason I asked you to meet me here. I think you're a great guy, and you've been so nice to me, but I really can't do this anymore." Rory confessed, glancing at him sideways.

"Is there something I did? Tell me what it is and I can change it or fix it. I really like you, Rory, and I think if you give it some more time, you could see that this would work." Josh replied earnestly.

"It won't, Josh. And I'm sorry if I maybe led you on or made you think there was more here, on my end. The truth is, someone from my past has recently come back into my life and I still love him, always have, to be honest. We're trying to start over and I need to give it all of my effort."

Josh looked down in his drink before sighing and pulling out a twenty dollar bill, slapping it on the table in front of him. He stood up, pulling his jacket on, and finally looked down at Rory.

"Well, I hope he makes you happy."

Josh walked quickly out the bar and Rory finished her drink slowly, feeling bad but knowing it was the right thing to do. She wanted to call Logan, tell him that she had taken care of things, and they could meet tonight. But, she knew he was right in them both needing a little bit of space to take a breath and not run full force into rekindling their relationship without getting to know each other again. There was still a very long week ahead of her before their scheduled time to meet at the coffee shop, and she prioritized catching up at work to keep her mind occupied.


	9. Chapter 9

Logan arrived at the coffee shop at 5:30 pm, not wanting to be too early, but definitely not wanting to be late. He had spent the past two weeks working late nights, in part to get the new office up and running, and mostly because it kept him distracted. Not that he didn't think about Rory every second of every day, but at least working kept him from being consumed by too many thoughts. At night though, was a different story. He'd have a few drinks, hoping to force sleep a little quicker, but spent several evenings laying in bed until the early hours of the morning, wide awake and giving himself pep talks about this very night.

He had woken this morning to a threatening message from Paris, insinuating that he wouldn't be having children any time soon if he hurt Rory and didn't show up at the coffee shop. It was Paris speak for "I'm accepting this but you better be there." Which made it clear to Logan that Rory had clearly talked to Paris at length about the situation, and implied that Rory would be there to meet him.

There was a bench in front of 4th and Bean, and he took a seat, zipping his jacket to the late winter chill as the sun began to set. 6 pm rolled around and his heart started beating as he tried not to look both ways down the street, focusing on the building across from him. The minutes ticked by and he shook his leg up and down in frustration, trying not to freak out. The next hour dragged out his agony and when he heard church bells in the distance chime seven times, he stood up, checked both ways again and pulled out his phone once more. No calls or missed messages. Something had to have gone wrong. Paris' message from earlier was a near guarantee that Rory was planning on showing up, and she was usually punctual.

He knew her apartment was just a few blocks away and started to make his way in that direction, hoping that maybe she had gotten a last minute work call for an article and had lost track of time. He was about to turn off of Cornelia Street onto Bleecker when something caught his eye and he backtracked. There was a messenger bag tossed on the ground just inside the entrance to a tight alleyway. It looked eerily similar to the one he had given to Rory as a graduation gift, and he prayed with all he had that it wasn't hers, before reaching down to pick it up. Flipping open the top flap, his heart sank when saw her initials embossed on the inner pocket.

There was a rustling sound to his left, and his head snapped in that direction. He took out his phone and switched on the flashlight mode before making his way quickly but cautiously down to the end of the alley. What appeared to be a pile of clothes moved and groaned and he ran the rest of the way.

Rory was slumped against a dumpster, her left leg bent at an unnatural angle, and she was cradling her right arm against her body. Logan dropped the messenger bag next to him and nearly threw up from the sight of her leg before gently reaching out to pull her hair back.

"Don't touch me." She slurred, pushing closer to the dumpster.

"Rory, it's me, it's Logan. I'm not going to hurt you." Logan said softly, resting his hand against her cheek, willing her to feel that was him.

She seemed to relax a bit, and he quickly unlocked his phone to call 911.

"911. What is your emergency?"

"I just found my … friend in an alley off of Cornelia, just before Bleecker. She's been attacked, her leg is really bad."

"Is she conscious? Does she appear to have any other injuries?"

Rory moaned again quietly and Logan shut his eyes for a moment, fighting back tears.

"It looks like she hurt her right arm, and she's going in and out, doesn't seem to be able to focus on anything."

"I have a unit and an ambulance on the way, trying to keep her from moving too much and try to keep her awake."

Logan put the phone on speaker and then placed it on the ground next to him. Blood was trickling down from a gash on Rory's forehead and he pulled off his scarf, pressing it against the wound. She moved a little in protest and then settled again, her eyes fluttering closed.

"Rory, you have to stay awake. Don't go to sleep, I know everything hurts right now, but you need to stay awake. Can you do that for me, Ace?" Logan said sternly.

"You called me Ace." Rory muttered as she opened her eyes again, looking up at him. The left eye was bloodshot and he felt rage bubbling up inside him, he wanted to kill whoever had done this.

He heard sirens coming closer and shouting in the distance. He waved his phone towards the entrance of the alley, signaling for the EMTs. They raced down the alley, stretcher in hand, and knelt down quickly, pushing him to the side. He grabbed Rory's bag and watched as they slipped a neck brace on and moved her to the stretcher. She screamed as they splinted her leg and Logan had never felt so terrified in his life.

"Sir, are you going with her? We need to get her to the ambulance now." One of the EMTs asked as Rory tried to reach out for Logan.

"Yes, I'm with her." He replied, and jogged behind the EMTs as they hopped in the ambulance. Two cops were taking notes and yelled that they would follow behind, as another unit pulled up to secure the scene.

The ambulance took off to NYU Medical Center as the EMTs strapped an oxygen mask on Rory and shouted different things that made no sense to Logan. He reached for her good hand and squeezed it gently.

"Don't you leave me, Ace." He whispered in her ear, and felt her fingers weakly squeeze his own in return.

In a blur, they pulled up into the ambulance bay and the stretcher was rushed through the doors and into the ER. Logan stood in shock for several minutes, looking down at his hands, noticing for the first time they were covered in blood. He wiped as much of it as he could on his pant legs and pulled out his phone, entering his password three times before getting it right.

* * *

Paris arrived 30 minutes later, running through the entrance, skidding to a stop at the front desk. Logan watched in a daze as she questioned the nurse on duty, and then whipped her head around wildly before catching sight of him. She had never seen him so stunned and it was that which made her realize the severity of what had happened, not the nurse's perfunctory recap.

Doyle entered the waiting room a moment later, and they both went over to where Logan was sitting, taking a chair on either side.

"I called Lorelai, she and Luke will be here as soon as they can." Paris said, watching Logan repeatedly wipe his hands on his blood stained pants.

"Thanks, Paris." He replied weakly, clearing his throat.

"I'm going to get us some coffee." Doyle said, and went off to find something to steady everyone's nerves.

"Logan? Um, how bad was it? Do you think she was … you know …" Paris asked, unable to say what she was afraid to ask.

"I don't think so, all her clothes still looked … intact. Her leg though, oh God, Paris, her leg. It looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. I am never going to get that out of my head, ever." Logan responded, tightening his hands into fists.

"Logan Huntzberger? We need to speak with you." A police officer had suddenly appeared in front of them and put both on edge.

"Why right now? We're waiting to hear about our friend. Can't you do this later?" Paris barked.

"No, m'am, we need to do it now. He found Ms. Gilmore at the scene, and is currently covered in her blood. We need to ask him a few questions while the details are fresh."

"You better not be implying that he something to do with this, Officer. I will have every lawyer in a 20 block vicinity down here within the hour." Paris snapped, standing up and crossing her arms.

The police officer loomed over her for a minute, not intimidating Paris in the least. Finally, Logan stood up slowly and handed his phone to Paris.

"It's alright, I'll go." He replied.

As the police officer turned back in the direction he had come, Logan paused for a moment.

"Call my lawyer, Paris. Number is under Calhoun. If anything happens …" He whispered, looking towards the ER, before looking back at her.

"If anything happens, I will search every room until I find you. Go so you can get back quickly. I'll make the call." Paris whispered back resolutely and sat back down.

Logan followed the officer down the long hall and squinted against the white bright lights, which illuminated the blood stains on his hands. He felt like his walking to his own firing squad and took a deep breath, ready to deal with the interrogation until his lawyer arrived.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry about the delay in posting, its been a brain melting week at work.**

* * *

Logan found himself in a small waiting with two police officers, who waited expectantly for him to start talking. He briefly thought about asking if they knew who his father was and if they knew the family they were messing with, but he knew a rich boy blow up wouldn't be in his best interest at the moment. Instead, he stared at the wall behind the cop who had come to find him and waited for one of them to break the silence.

"So, Mr. Huntzberger. I'm Detective Cruz and this is Detective McNally. Anything you would like to say?" Detective Cruz began, after waiting for a full 10 minutes.

"I have nothing to hide, ask me whatever you'd like." Logan replied calmly, keeping his blood stained hands clasped together in his lap.

"How do you know Ms. Gilmore?"

"We went to Yale and were in a relationship for nearly 3 years, we met when she was a sophomore."

"And what led to you and her being together this evening?"

"I recently moved back, I had been living and working in California since 2007. I saw Rory about 3 weeks ago at a memorial service for her grandfather, Richard, and we've been back in touch ever since. Tonight we were going to meet at a coffee shop, 4th and Bean on West 4th and then go to dinner, but she never showed and I got worried and decided to drop by her apartment. I was on my way there when I saw her bag at the end of the alley, I had given it to her as a college graduation present. And that's when I found her." Logan said, unable to totally hide the shaking in his voice.

"So, if I've got this right, you and Ms. Gilmore haven't had any contact in the past 8 or 9 years until recently? Why did you decide to go to this memorial service?"

"I've known Richard and Emily Gilmore for many years, my parents run in some of the same circles. Rory was very close with Richard and I knew she would be devastated, so I went to out of respect for the Gilmore family and to also be there for Rory, if she needed me."

"And what led to you two breaking up?" Detective McNally asked, taking over the questioning.

"How does that relate?" Logan asked, beginning to feel angry.

"Just answer the question, Mr. Huntzberger."

"We broke up because I proposed to her and she said no. I was upset and and scared about moving across the country without her, so I walked away. I attempted to apologize several times, mostly by email, in the months afterwards, but she never responded so I stopped trying to contact her."

"So you moving back to New York had nothing at all to do with her?"

Logan took a deep breath and realized that for some reason, they were setting a trap and he was not going to walk into it.

"Yes, in part I wanted to move back because I still love Rory and I wanted to give it another shot. But opening a new office here is a great opportunity for my company, so it was also a good business move. Rory is open to giving us a second chance, so we were meeting tonight for dinner and to start getting to know each other again. I waited for an hour after the time we agreed on and that's when I started to head over to her place."

"And you happened to see Ms. Gilmore's bag at the entrance to the alley. It must've been pretty dark, how did you know it was hers?"

"I had it custom made for her and her initials are embossed underneath the outside flap. It caught my eye as I walked by, and just when I realized it was hers, I heard a sound deeper in the alley. It was pretty dark, so I turned on the flashlight mode on my phone, and I found her against the dumpster."

"You showed up with a lot of blood on your hands and clothes. How did that happen?"

"She has a large cut on her head, I used my scarf to help stop the blood flow. Her leg is also pretty mangled, there was a lot of blood on the ground too, I must've leaned on it."

The detectives looked at each other and Logan was convinced now that something much larger was going on. But like hell he was going let them accuse him of hurting Rory.

"Are you sure that's all that happened?"

"Yes, Detectives, I'm sure. I can see you are trying to pin something on me, and I have done nothing wrong. I found her, I called 911, and I came to the hospital. I called her best friend, Paris, who by the way would've already taken me out if she thought I had something to do with this. Rory's mom is on her way, and frankly, I would like to be waiting with them when Rory gets out of surgery. So if you have any other questions, you'll need to ask my lawyer, he should be here soon." Logan responded, and thought briefly that his upbringing had prepared him for such a moment.

Logan had just stood up when the door flew open and in walked Paris with his lawyer.

"Detectives, I'm Jimmy Calhoun, and this is my client. He has been through a traumatic ordeal and has done nothing wrong. Please do not ask him any further questions without my presence. Come on Logan, let's find a quiet place to talk." Mr. Calhoun said and Logan laughed to himself at the shock on both detectives' faces. The Calhoun practice was legendary in New York.

"You two should get to work and find out who really did this." Paris snapped, and followed Logan and Mr. Calhoun down the hall back towards the ER waiting room.

Logan had just finished explaining what happened to Mr. Calhoun when Lorelai and Luke burst through the doors. Lorelai threw her arms around Logan and he carefully hugged her back, overly aware that her daughter's blood was still on his clothes and hands.

"Logan, I'm so thankful you went to look for her, I can't imagine ..." Lorelai began and then trailed off, her eyes welling up.

"I talked to the doctors, she's in surgery for her leg, but it sounds like the arm injury is a bad sprain and the head wound will be stitched up. I told them to get the best plastic surgeon there is to take care of that. We should head to the operating area waiting room, now that you're here." Paris reported, entering quickly into doctor mode.

Lorelai nodded while Luke took her by the arm and they all made their way to the elevators. Logan trailed behind and whispered to Paris that he would be up shortly, before turning off into a bathroom. He locked the door behind him and stared into the mirror.

His hair was in total disarray, his face pale white and his eyes red. He ran hot water in the sink and furiously scrubbed his hands, watching the water turn pink and go down the drain. There was nothing he could do now about the dried blood on his jeans, so he untucked his shirt all the way to try to hide the stains.

It took him a minute to realize he was crying, and he leaned against the door, letting every emotion pour out of him now, so he could pull it together and be strong in front of Rory. Nothing in his entire life had scared him so much as the sight of her in that alley, and he felt indescribable rage against whoever had attacked her. He resolved that he would see some kind of justice for her, no matter if he had to pay every cent he had.


	11. Chapter 11

***Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I've been sick this week.***

* * *

Rory's entire body felt heavy, like she was swimming through mud. _Or pudding_ , she thought, conjuring up a picture of her mother diving headfirst into a pool of chocolate pudding. Her mouth was incredibly dry and she needed a drink, but her eyelids felt like they were under bags of sand and she couldn't force them open.

Her mind drifted to the faint beeping she heard in the background, and she felt someone gently holding her left hand, her right didn't seem to want to move. It occurred to her through a daze that something was wrong with her left leg too, everything was numb below the hip. The hand holding hers squeezed her fingers and she was hit with a wave of a scent she knew she recognized but couldn't quite place it. It was comforting, something she knew she'd smelled many times before, and she fought back against the voice in her head telling her to keep sleeping.

She lay there, halfway between conscious and not, random memories floating by on a movie screen in her mind. The same face kept popping up again, over and over, and she struggled to remember his name. She knew she had loved him, still did. The slideshow paused at a memory of her and this boy at an outdoor table next to the beach, eating seafood and laughing. She was cold and he wrapped his sweatshirt around her, the same scent on it as she was smelling now.

 _Logan_ , she thought, and instantly the fog in her head began to clear, as she said his name again in her mind. They were supposed to meet at the coffee shop. Why wasn't she at dinner with him? And where were they now?

Her eyes popped open and squinted towards the bright lights above her, the beeping becoming surround sound, and the hand in hers jerking back against the movement of her fingers.

"Rory?!" Logan said, his voice hoarse, as he felt her fingers twitching against his.

Lorelai looked up from her own vigil on the other side of the bed and signaled Luke to get a nurse or a doctor. She was unable to speak, watching closely as Rory blinked a few times and tried to move.

"Rory, its me, hun. Don't move ok? You've been in an accident and you aren't able to move your leg and your arm right now. Stay still until someone comes to check on you." Lorelai finally said, trying her best to remain calm and not break down in a pool of tears.

Rory looked at her mom, and then over to Logan, who looked like he had been through hell. His eyes were red and she had never seen him look so distraught in all the time she had known him. She pointed to her throat and mimicked drinking from a cup, prompting Lorelai to carefully rest a plastic cup against her lips for a few sips before pulling away again.

"What ..." Rory began, her voice raspy. "What happened?" she whispered finally.

Lorelai and Logan looked at each other and then back at her. Even through a medicated haze, she could tell that whatever had happened, it wasn't a simple accident. Logan stroked the top of her hand and Lorelai swept Rory's hair out of her face, both of them not sure what to say.

"So glad to see you awake, Rory! I'm Dr. Getty," A voice boomed in through the door, and Luke followed behind the doctor, who was making his way over to the bed and checking Rory's vitals on the machine next to it.

"I know you must have a lot of questions, but I know you are also feeling confused and dazed right now, that's mostly from the anesthesia and the pain medication. You had an operation on your left leg, it was badly broken, so we had to go in and repair it. Your right wrist is sprained, but with time and physical therapy you are going to be fine. We're going to keep you here for a few days, to make sure everything is healing properly. Once the anesthesia wears off from the surgery, you should start feeling a little more clear headed, although the pain medication is probably going to still make you drowsy. You hang in there and let one of the nurses know if you need anything, ok?"

Rory nodded and Dr. Getty patted her good foot before exiting back into the hall. Lorelai followed him, needing more information.

"Is she really going to be ok?" Lorelai asked nervously.

"Physically, in time, she will heal. Her leg will never be 100%, but it will be close enough to not impede on her every day life. Mentally though, once she starts to remember what happened, is the thing I am more concerned about. She may not remember on her own for several days or weeks, but she should be evaluated, and unfortunately, now that she's awake, the police are going to have questions. I can hold them off for a day or two, but they will question her." Dr. Getty replied, his brow furrowing at the thought of the police interfering with his patient's recovery process.

Back in the hospital room, Rory and Logan sat silently, still holding hands. Rory was starting to feel drowsy again and was glad that they had a minute alone, she needed to ask Logan a question.

"You found me." Rory said, the question coming out as a statement, she felt in her bones now that Logan had saved her.

"Yes." Logan replied, leaning closer to her.

"And it was bad." Rory said, feeling the pain killers slowing down her thoughts.

"Yes." Logan responded, after a moment. He didn't want to talk about what happened with her, and he especially didn't want to talk about it with her being so soon out of surgery. But he also realized that she remembered at least a bit of what happened, and they would have to talk about it eventually.

Rory's eyes began to close and she felt safe, in this room with Logan, her hand in his, the feel of his weight on the bed as he gently kissed her forehead. As long as she had him standing by her, everything would be ok.

"Love you." She whispered softly, and Logan smiled for the first time in what felt like years.

"Love you too, Ace. I'll be here."


	12. Chapter 12

Visiting hours ended at 9:00 pm, but the nurses allowed Lorelai to spend the night in Rory's room. The rest of them moved into a private waiting room down the hall, all impatient to get through the night. Unable to sleep, Logan and Doyle found themselves in the empty cafeteria, lukewarm cups of coffee on the table between them.

"So what exactly happened with the police?" Doyle asked, stirring more sugar into his cup.

"They asked me a bunch of questions about what happened, how I found her, what I saw. But in an accusatory way, they definitely were trying to get me to give up some kind of information."

"What does your lawyer have to say about it?"

"He said they don't have any evidence and he's working on tracking down any security footage from that block. I'm not sure it will go away that easily though, I got the feeling that they've been looking for someone, like maybe this has happened before." Logan sighed and took a cup of his coffee. It tasted terrible but he needed the caffeine.

"I could call one of my crime reporters, see if he's heard anything, ask him to dig a little?"

"It can't hurt, I'd like to get a leg up on the cops and collect some information of my own."

"I'll go make the call, meet you back in the waiting room?" Doyle said, planning to find a quiet, private room.

Logan nodded and watched Doyle walk through the cafeteria doors. He finished the last of his coffee and stared down at this hands for a long time, convinced he could still see blood stains on his hands. Doyle had run downtown earlier and grabbed a change of clothes from Logan's apartment, so at least he was wearing clean clothes, but he couldn't shake the horror of having Rory's blood all over him.

* * *

A few hours later, Doyle returned with a large map of the city. They snuck back out to the cafeteria, leaving Paris, Christopher, and Luke all half asleep in the waiting room. Doyle spread the map out on the table and pulled out a red pen and his phone.

"So Brian has found at least 4 cases with similar attacks, he'll keep searching but this is what we have so far. September 18, 2015, on West 54th between 10th and 11th. October 1, 2015 on West 51st between 9th and 10th. November 30, 2015, West 47th between 6th and 7th. January 5, 2016, West 43rd between 9th and 10th. All attacks occurred on weekdays between 6 and 9 pm, approximately. " Doyle read the locations off of his phone, marking the blocks with the pen as he went.

"These are all in fairly close proximity to each other, how does Rory's case fit in?" Logan asked, studying the map in front of him.

"True, her location is an outlier, but the description of the attacks fit. Single, young woman, alone, found in an alley or doorway, all in their late twenties to early thirties. Broken limbs, severe head contusions. And they all have dark hair and light eyes." Doyle replied quietly.

"Whoever this creep is, he's attacking women in a highly traveled, tourist area. Are any of them from out of town?"

"Out of these cases, no. Which means either he's really good at figuring out who's from out of town, or …" Doyle trailed off, not wanting to continue the train of thought.

"Or he's following them home after work. But why this area? With the exception of the West 47th location, they are all in Hell's Kitchen. Not as busy as Times Square, but still heavily traveled. He seems familiar enough with the area to know how to avoid the busiest areas but still have enough cover in a crowd to escape quickly."

"Maybe he lives in the neighborhood? Although, these four attacks happened on weekdays, after most offices are closed. I'm thinking he works near by. Maybe he's chatted up these girls in a bar one day after leaving the office, gets to know where they work, and follows them at some point later."

Doyle and Logan looked at each and then back at the map. Finding the attacker wouldn't be easy in a small city, much less midtown Manhattan with thousands of tourists visiting on a daily basis.


	13. Chapter 13

A few days later, the police returned to question Rory. She was scheduled to be released from the hospital the following day, and Dr. Getty could no longer hold them off. Doyle's reporters had uncovered another five potential cases, make an even ten with Rory included. Logan had mentioned their discoveries to his lawyer, who agreed it was better to play their cards carefully for now and keep the information to themselves until after Rory had been questioned.

At his lawyer's suggestion, Logan steered clear of the police and waited in the cafeteria with Luke, both of whom nervously picked at their lunches and tried to avoid any major conversation. Lorelai stayed back to support Rory, along with Dr. Getty who sat in the corner of Rory's hospital room. Christopher paced uneasily in the hallway.

"So Ms. Gilmore, I'm Officer McNally and this is Officer Cruz. We're here to ask you some questions about what happened. It's ok if you don't remember much, but anything you do remember could be very important to the case. Are you ready?" Officer McNally began, taking a seat next to the bed.

Rory nodded her head and held Lorelai's hand for support.

"Good. Can you tell me what you were doing on Sunday? Where you were, if you talked to anyone, went into any stores or restaurants?"

"I went out around 12:30 pm and grabbed a couple of slices of pizza at Antonio's, which is over on West Houston. After that, I went to 4th and Bean on West 4th. I lost track of time and left around 4:30 pm, hurrying back to my apartment to change before meeting Logan back there at 6 pm." Rory recounted, searching her mind for anything unusual.

"And you didn't talk to anyone in particular?" Officer Cruz asked.

"Just the employee at Antonio's and a couple of the baristas at the coffee shop."

"Do you visit both of those places frequently?"

"I'm probably at Antonio's once a week. I go to 4th and Bean quite a bit, and usually on Sundays, I know pretty much all of the staff at this point."

"Do you remember your walk home?"

"The sun was starting to go down, so I remember some of the street lights coming on. I usually take Cornelia to Bleecker, my place is on MacDougal between Bleecker and West Houston. I remember turning onto Cornelia and then ..." Rory trailed off, not wanting to think any further about what came next.

"You know you were found on Cornelia. It's a short street, it's possible whoever attacked you was following you from the time you left the coffee shop. Do you remember anything at all about the person who did this? Even something you don't think could matter may make help to identify the person." Office McNally said, taking notes on her responses.

Rory forced herself to open her mind and think back to her walk home. She remembered smiling at the thought of seeing Logan that night and how things would be right again. After that was a blur of fragments swirling around, like a kaleidoscope.

"He approached me from behind, I think, I don't remember ever seeing a face or anyone in front of me. He grabbed my arm and wrenched it behind my back, and he spoke in my ear, but his voice was muffled or altered maybe? He didn't seem exceptionally tall, but not short either. He leaned down to talk to me, but not by much. Nothing about him seemed familiar."

"That's good, Ms. Gilmore, very good. Its possible he was wearing a mask or something over his mouth, that would explain the muffling. Do you remember being found by Mr. Huntzberger?"

"Bits and pieces. I remember laying on the ground for what seemed like hours, and I heard a familiar voice and I smelled Logan's cologne, that's when I realized it was him. It's a very distinct smell, he buys it from Europe. Everything after that is just a blur, but I knew it was him."

"How would you describe your relationship to Mr. Huntzberger?"

"Logan and I dated for almost three years, we had originally met at Yale when I was a sophomore and he was a junior, he took a year off between his own sophomore and junior years. We broke up at the end of my senior year. I hadn't talked to him in many years until I saw him recently at my grandfather's memorial. We met a few weeks ago to talk things over and decided to give the relationship another shot."

"He said he found your bag at the entrance to the alley and that's what prompted him to look for you. Which bag did you have?"

"A leather messenger bag that Logan had given me as a graduation present. I use it a lot for work, I was catching up on some article research on Sunday, so I used it to carry my laptop."

"This next question is going to be a hard one, but we need the complete and honest truth, we have to look at all angles here. Are you sure Logan had nothing to do with the attack? He had a scarf on, which could've muffled his voice, and the height description fits."

Rory looked at the two police officers, horrified at the suggestion, and then to her mother, who squeezed her hand tightly in support.

"There is not one fiber of my being that thinks it was Logan. How dare you accuse him of that! He found me, called the ambulance, and came with me. From what Paris said, he was completely distraught. And trust me, if Paris thought he had anything to do with it, she'd have taken him out long before you even came to the suggestion." Rory snapped back.

"Ms. Gilmore please understand that we have to investigate any and all possible leads, no matter how upsetting they may be."

"I think its time to leave my patient to rest now, Officers. She's answered your questions very bravely and I don't want to upset her any further." Dr Getty said, rising from his chair in the corner.

"If you remember anything else, please give us a call." Officer Cruz said, and handed a business card to Lorelai, who glared at him before placing it in her purse.

Rory watched the police officers and Dr. Getty leave, trying to remain calm until all three had left the room. Christopher came in a moment later and looked at them expectantly.

"So, how did it go?"

"They think Logan is involved, which is ridiculous." Lorelai said, wanting to establish quickly that she believed Logan was innocent.

"What?! Why?" Christopher asked, shocked.

"They said its because he came to the hospital with my blood all over him, and he fits the potential height, according to my description of the attacker. I can't believe this." Rory replied, and closed her eyes for a moment, her leg pulsing dully with pain.

"Obviously Logan didn't do it, we all know that. It does seem like they are anxious to pin it on someone, which makes me wonder what else is going on. Don't worry about it. I'm sure Logan has a good lawyer and I can pull in whoever and whatever we need to make sure he isn't accused. For now though, Rory, you need to rest." Christopher said and sat down on a vacant chair.

"Logan should know about this."

"I'll go find Logan and Luke, let them know what happened. In the meantime, try to just relax. Its almost time for your next round of meds anyway, that should help you calm down. I'll back soon." Lorelai stated, grabbing her purse and making her way out into the hallway.

She entered to the cafeteria and found Logan and Luke sitting at a corner table, each clearly in their own world.

"Hey you two, the police just wrapped up with Rory. It was ... interesting. We need to talk, Logan, they are trying to blame this on you." Lorelai said as Luke moved a third chair over to the table for her.

"I know, I got that feeling as well when they questioned me Sunday night. I got the impression that this has happened before, maybe other girls have been attacked, and when I mentioned it to Doyle, he had his reporters do some research. Turns out there are at least 10 cases, including Rory, that could potentially be the same person."

"Can you bring the information to the police? What does your lawyer say?" Luke asked as Lorelai sat in shock.

"My lawyer is looking into it further, gathering information on the police reports and putting something together. He wants to bring it to a lead detective that he's worked with before, but it has to be done at the right time. If we tell the police too soon, without all the facts, they may think I'm trying to throw them off, instead of helping them."

"Well we're behind you, Logan, anyone that knew you back when you and Rory were together knows it could never be true. What I do find disturbing is that there's someone out there doing this, and potentially its someone Rory knows. We need to make sure this gets to that detective before someone else is attacked."

"Thanks, Lorelai. It means a lot to know how you feel. And I know Paris would've thrown me down a trash chute by now if she thought I did it, so she's quite the bulldog to have on my side." Logan said, laughing at the image of Paris in attack mode.

"That's pretty much what Rory told the police! Should we head back and check on her?"

Luke and Logan nodded and they went through the doors of the cafeteria, walking back towards Rory's room. They found her asleep and gathered quietly in the waiting room, preparing for whatever would come next.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I was out of town and had a lot of work to catch up on. The joys of an adult life.**

* * *

Rory was cleared to leave the following day, prompting Emily to drive down early that morning with her maid, intent on cleaning Rory's apartment from top to bottom. Lorelai had been hesitant about having Emily come down to the hospital, fearing the sight of Rory would only add to the emotional stress. Emily insisted she needed to get out of the house, and making sure Rory's apartment was ready was the perfect reason.

Christopher booked rooms at The Mercer for himself and whoever else would be in town over the next several weeks to help Rory. It went without saying that Lorelai would be staying with Rory and Rory had also asked Logan to stay with them. Luke planned to return to Stars Hollow once Rory was settled back in her own place, and would drive back every few days.

The livery car Christopher had also booked pulled up to the curb outside of Rory's building on MacDougal. She gingerly scooted herself across the seat to the passenger door and took the crutches that Luke was holding out to her. The distance from the car to the front steps seemed like a mile, and she took deep breaths with every swing of the crutches. Logan was waiting to meet her at the bottom step, she wasn't strong enough yet to handle the stairs all the way up to her apartment. Luke took the crutches back and Logan picked her up, careful not to bump her cast.

"Good thing you only live on the second floor, Ace, I might throw my back out doing this." Logan joked as Christopher held the front door open.

"You must be an old man now, if you can throw your back out." Rory replied, fighting against the medication fog.

Logan laughed and slowly made his way upstairs, with Luke in front of him and Christopher behind, just in case something happened on the stairs. Despite the gravity of the situation, Logan felt himself coming back to life, holding Rory close to him, protecting her. It was exactly where he should've been all this time, and he would break his own legs before dropping her.

Lorelai unlocked the door to Rory's apartment and found Emily supervising Celia, who was struggling to fit enough food for 20 people into the refrigerator.

"Lorelai! Perfect timing. Celia is just about done here. All the linens are washed, every surface dusted, and the kitchen stocked. Celia whipped up a variety of dishes to have on hand, just have to heat it up." Emily stated, smiling proudly.

"Thanks, Mom, I really appreciate it. Logan is bringing up Rory now, once we get her settled maybe she'll have something small, she's supposed to eat every few hours to keep her strength up."

"Her bed is all ready, I brought some extra pillows to prop her leg up. Elevating is key!" Emily replied, whirling around into the living room at a breakneck speed.

Logan entered the apartment, maneuvering through the door sideways, Luke and Christopher right behind him.

"This way, Logan! I have everything ready for you, Rory. You are going to be fine soon enough, anything you need, you ask." Emily said authoritatively and Rory felt bolstered by her grandmother's determination.

"Didn't take her long to get back to bossing people around." Luke muttered as he dropped Rory's bag in a corner of the living room, Lorelai snorting at his comment.

"Tell me about it, poor Celia. She cleaned the entire place and cooked for a small country all in like 5 hours. No wonder the Gilmore maids burn out at such a high rate." Christopher remarked, his eyes widening at the sight of the overflowing fridge.

In the bedroom, Logan placed Rory gently on the bed and held her leg up as Emily piled up the pillows.

"Now, the most important thing is for you to rest, Rory. Celia made some wonderful chicken soup when you are hungry and she also made some smoothies for you, must make sure we keep up on your nutrition!"

"Thanks, Grandma. I hope you didn't go through too much trouble, Mom can always have food delivered."

"Nonsense! Home cooked is best, you never know what may be in those greasy burgers you and your mother love so much. I'm going to go show Lorelai what Celia made, you should try to take a nap." Emily said and went back out into the hall.

"How are you feeling?" Logan asked quietly, absentmindedly fixing the blanket Rory had pulled over her lap.

"Tired, groggy. The pain meds are really kicking my butt." Rory responded, closing her eyes.

"Try to sleep a little bit, you've had a big day so far." Logan replied, backing up to the doorway to turn off the light.

"Don't leave." Rory murmured, sleep quickly taking over and she reached her hand out to him before dropping it back on the bed.

Logan smiled to himself and walked to the other side of the bed, kicking off his shoes before sitting carefully. He swung his legs up and laid back against the pillow next to Rory's, taking her hand in his.

"There's a lot of food to get through, Ace, and your grandmother certainly won't let me leave until it's all gone, so I'm not leaving anytime soon." Logan whispered in Rory's ear, earning a small smile before she fell asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

_She felt his breath on the back of her neck just a second before he grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her._

 _"Scream and I'll snap your arm." He whispered, the voice seeming to be muffled by something over his face._

 _She instinctively reached to open her bag, the small canister of pepper spray waiting in one of the inside pockets, but he noticed and snatched the bag off her shoulder, throwing into the alley a few steps ahead._

 _"You won't be getting whatever you were reaching for, trust me on that. Do what I say, be quiet, and it'll be over soon."_

 _For the first time, real fear hit her 100%. What did he mean by, "it'll be over soon?"_

Rory woke up with a start, her heart racing, eyes snapping wide open. She put her hand to her chest, feeling it move up and down quickly, matching the short breaths she was taking. The dreams had started a few nights after being out of the hospital, and now, a week later, they had developed into a pattern. Her doctors had told her that the memories would most likely come back, dreams being a common scenario. She didn't want to remember, frankly, but she knew that remembering would the best chance at catching the man who did this to her, which would in turn save a lot of other girls from potential harm. Not to mention finally clearing up the detectives' suspicion Logan was somehow involved.

Speaking of Logan, she turned her head to see if he was still sleeping, and felt relieved that he was. She was grateful that he had been spending so much time with her, but she didn't want to worry him anymore than necessary. It calmed her though to watch him sleep and she felt her heart rate slowly return to normal as she tried to match her breathing pattern to Logan's.

Logan woke up early the next morning, easing himself off the bed and heading into the bathroom, bringing a change of clothes with him. He had been essentially taking the "night shift" with Rory since she came home, giving Lorelai a chance to rest and run whatever errands were necessary from late afternoon until the morning. Unfortunately though, his presence had been required at the new office, and he was putting in a couple of long days with the hope of wrapping up any major crises by that afternoon. He intended to take a few weeks off from work completely, relieving some of the load Lorelai was carrying, with Paris directing the proceedings by text or phone when she was on shift at the hospital. Luke was due to come back into town that afternoon and Christopher dropped by during the day, but Rory was easily overwhelmed by the amount of people trying to help her, and ultimately it came down to Lorelai and himself shouldering most of her care.

He went back in the bedroom for his shoes, tripping over them and swearing quietly to himself.

"Logan? What time is it?" Rory mumbled sleepily, and he cursed himself for waking her up.

"Around 6, go back to sleep, Ace. I'm going to head to the office and solve whatever remaining issues there are with the start up here, I'll be back this afternoon." He replied, kissing her on the cheek before slipping his other shoe on and closing the bedroom door behind him.

Lorelai was on the couch with a giant mug of coffee in her hand, staring bleary eyed at the muted TV in front of her. She waved lazily at him and pointed to the travel mug on the kitchen counter to his left.

"Thanks for the coffee. Should be all set at work today for a bit, hope to be back late this afternoon. If you need me to pick anything up, let me know." Logan said, sipping the hot coffee, wishing he was back in bed.

Lorelai nodded and rested her head on a pillow against the back of the couch and he laughed to himself, neither of these two Gilmore ladies were morning people. Richard and Emily on the other hand were up with the birds, as Richard says. _Or said_ , Logan thought sadly to himself as he exited the apartment.

His new secretary, Linda, came in precisely at 11:30 am, as she had every day since her hire, to ask what he wanted for lunch, and returned promptly, as she had every day, at noon with that order. Today, she carried a FedEx envelope with her.

"This came in from the California office today, sounds like its some forwarded mail." Linda said, placing both the envelope and the bag of food, along with a large fountain drink cup, on his desk.

"Thanks, Linda. I'm planning to wrap up things here by 4 at the latest." Logan replied, taking his eyes off the screen in front of him briefly to smile up at her.

"I'll hold you to that, Mr. Huntzberger. And make sure you eat today, you're dealing with a lot right now, you need the energy." Linda commanded as she walked out the door.

Logan smiled again, quickly warming to the motherly instinct of Linda. She had been hired through a temp agency to get the office up and running, but he already knew he would be extending a permanent offer to her before her contract was up.

He opened the FedEx and quickly scanned through the mail that had been sent to him from California. A letter on heavy stationary fell out of the pile onto his desk, and he picked it up, reading the note attached.

 _Mr. Huntzberger,_

 _This letter was sent out to you recently from a law firm in Connecticut. I had opened it, thinking it was company mail, but the letter inside, enclosed here, was addressed to you by your first name, so I assumed it was a private matter._

 _E.K._

Emory Kahn, his V.P. out in California, had effectively taken over that location when Logan decided to move back to New York. He had also been diligently forwarding Logan his mail. True to the note, the envelope had just his first name written on it, and the paper weighed heavy in his hand. Clearly it was more likely from an individual than a business matter, given the stationary quality, most businesses barely used printed letterhead anymore as it was.

He took his letter opener and carefully unsealed the flap, starting to have a vague idea of who this letter was from.

 _Dear Logan,_

 _If you are reading this, I have either become incapacitated and unable to handle my own affairs, or I have passed on. Regardless of how and why you were delivered this letter, I have recently realized that I've let this situation go on for simply too long. I admit that I always found you to be just another spoiled, boisterous rich son of a millionaire, with no concern for finding one's own source of income and a respectable lifestyle. Over time, I have come to see that in breaking away from the business that fostered your birth into a newspaper fortune, you have found your own path of success, and your true person has come to the surface, which I respect greatly._

 _Do not ever feel that what you did and what you are doing is a disgrace to your family or to yourself. However, while you have built an extremely successful business, I fear that your personal life suffers greatly from too much work and not enough enjoying life. Do not become a slave to the office, chained to your desk. Life is meant to be lived, not to work yourself into a bachelor at 50 with a mile long list of career accomplishments, but no one special on your arm as you accept the newest award._

 _Rory misses you, Logan, and I believe she still loves you very much. I've watched her build a similar life, a successful journalism career but nothing of substance on the relationship front. If you are the honorable man I believe you to be, I know that if I have passed away or something dreadful has happened, you will come back, you may already have. I know that you still care for her deeply._

 _I can no longer look out for her and keep her safe, and I now turn that most important task over to you._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Richard Gilmore_

Logan found himself wiping a few stray tears away, feeling honored that Richard would write to him, ask him to look after Rory. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, tamp down the empty feeling he always had when thinking about his own parents, and opened the bag Linda had brought back. Starting now, he was going to take care of himself better so he could take care of Rory.


	16. Chapter 16

A few weeks later, Rory was able to get around a little bit easier and the panic mode of her friends and family started to subside. Luke was still coming down a couple of times a week, bringing Lane with him sometimes, alternating with Emily's visits, to Luke's relief. Christopher had returned to Boston to deal with the ever unruly GiGi, after a desperate call from her school principal. Logan took on the bulk of Rory's care, his main point in leaving work for a few weeks, giving Lorelai a chance to get back to Stars Hollow to check on the Inn and spend a few days there before returning.

Paris was spending her afternoon off catching up on the medical side of things, while Doyle and Logan went out to get lunch for everyone.

"So I have that physical therapist set up for you, Nan, starting next week with your wrist and your leg later, once that's ready. She'll come here to make things easier on everyone. Very highly recommended, I personally checked up on her." Paris said, as she helped Rory adjust her cast on the couch pillows.

"Thanks, Paris, I really appreciate it. Getting back some use in my arm will great, I can't wait. Hopefully I'll be able to do some work from home soon."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, take all the time you can right now to heal."

"Yes, Dr. Geller." Rory joked, making Paris smile in spite of herself.

"And how's the investigation going? Have they made any progress?"

"Not really, I think the detectives are still suspicious of Logan, which is of course crazy. I am starting to remember, though, and I'm not sure I want to." Rory admitted.

"Enough for the police to go on?"

"More just bits and pieces, mostly in dreams. You're the first person I've told, I don't want to upset my Mom and I don't want Logan going off on a manhunt right now."

"As much as you don't want to remember, its important that you do, not just to clear Logan's name, but to make sure this guy doesn't hurt anyone else. And for your own peace of mind. Don't let this haunt you forever. I think once you remember as much as you'll be able to and you pass that along to the police, you'll feel more in control because you are taking action against this psycho." Paris stated firmly, her voice rising slightly.

"You're right. And I know I need to tell Logan." Rory replied, sighing sadly at the thought of Logan getting worked up over the whole thing again.

"Tell him what's come back so far, it might help to talk it out, pick up some other details. Its ok for him to be angry, Rory. If he could, I know he'd kill this guy at a moment's notice for what he did. And that thinking, as long as he doesn't act on it, is a good thing. You two have each other again, let this be what makes you stronger, not what tears you apart."

Rory nodded at Paris' words, knowing she was correct.

* * *

Doyle and Logan waited outside a local taco shop for their order, both anxious to get a moment to talk to each other without the girls around.

"Any updates from the police? Has Rory remembered anything?" Doyle asked quietly.

"Nothing new on the investigation, they looked for surveillance footage but there was none that caught the alley area, of course. Rory says she doesn't remember, but I think she has been, she seems to wake up very suddenly but tries to play it off so I don't notice. I wish she would tell me." Logan responded, kicking a pebble on the sidewalk in front of him.

"My team has pulled together another 5 potential cases, should be ready to go today, I'll email the documents over to you and Mr. Calhoun. All the more evidence that it wasn't you and it is one person making these attacks, they're not so random."

"Thanks, Doyle. Have you filled in Paris on any of this?"

"A bit, but I don't want to get her going, you know what's she's like. The best thing she can do to help is provide her medical advice and be involved on that end. Let her do what she does well, and I'll handle what I do well."

"Sounds like a plan to me, although I do enjoy the thought of Paris actually getting her hands on this guy, she would have him confessing in minutes."

They both laughed at the thought and went back inside to pick up their lunch order.

* * *

Later that night, after Rory had awkwardly gotten ready for bed - she'd never get used to crutches - and was propped up with a book in hand, she summoned up the courage to tell Logan.

"Logan? Can you come in here?" She called, and he hurried in from the kitchen, a glass in hand.

"What's up, Ace? Water not coming fast enough for you?" Logan said jokingly, setting the glass down on the bedside table and then sitting next to her.

"Just fast enough, thanks. I, um, I need to talk to you about something." Rory replied nervously, twisting a strand of hair around her finger.

"Ok, you sound serious. Serious conversations mean I better take off my shoes and get comfortable." Logan responded, taking his shoes off and turning to face Rory directly, nodding that he was ready.

"I've been ... dreaming. About what happened. I guess they aren't really dreams, they are memories, but its coming back to me while I sleep. What happened. Not everything, but some things." Rory began, and filled Logan in on what she remembered so far.

"When you were walking home that night, did you ever get the sense that you were being followed or someone was watching you?"

"Not that I can recall, I do have a pretty consistent habit of going to 4th and Bean on Sundays, so its possible that someone knew it was my routine, but I don't remember seeing anyone or anything unusual while I was there or when I left."

Logan nodded and thought for a moment, unsure if he should tell Rory about the investigation he and Doyle had been conducting on their own. From what she had remembered so far, he got the impression that the guy was confident in what he was doing, which would likely mean he had done it before, as they suspected.

"Now there's something I need to tell you. You know the police have been keeping me on the suspect list, its been that way since the first night in the hospital, when they questioned me. I got the impression that they were digging for something, that maybe this has happened before. Doyle and I started talking, he got some of his crime beat reporters on it, and so far they've pulled together at least 15 cases where it could be the same suspect. The same person who hurt you could've hurt all these other girls, and he could be out there now, doing it again."

Rory felt momentarily shocked before realizing she had known somewhere in the back of her mind that the guy who had attacked her was too sure of himself, knew what to do too well. _The other ones._

 _"_ The other ones ..." She mumbled, scanning her brain for some sort of context to place the words.

"What?" Logan asked, coming closer.

"When he dragged me down the alley, after he dropped my bag. I started kicking him, hard, got him in the crotch, and he got mad. Said 'You fight more than the other ones.' And that's when ..." Rory trailed off, her hand over her mouth, feeling incredibly sick all of a sudden.

"Then what? You're safe, you can tell me. You need to tell me." Logan said urgently, taking her other hand in his, willing her to look at him.

"He hit me in the leg with something heavy, metal. A pipe maybe." Rory replied, her face going white, leg throbbing at the memory.

 _She felt his breath on the back of her neck just a second before he grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her._

 _"Scream and I'll snap your arm." He whispered, the voice seeming to be muffled by something over his face._

 _She instinctively reached to open her bag, the small canister of pepper spray waiting in one of the inside pockets, but he noticed and snatched the bag off her shoulder, throwing it into the alley a few steps ahead._

 _"You won't be getting whatever you were reaching for, trust me on that. Do what I say, be quiet, and it'll be over soon."_

 _For the first time, real fear hit her 100%. What did he mean by, "it'll be over soon?"_

 _He half dragged, half pushed her into the alley opening, her eyes tearing up from the pain in her arm. She suddenly thought of her 13th birthday. Luke had decided she needed to learn some self defense, and he awkwardly but valiantly explained to her that kicking a man in the groin would cause some serious pain._

 _"Don't ever let someone try to hurt you without putting up a fight, Rory. Kick, scream, punch, poke their eyes, whatever you need to do to try to get away and protect yourself. Fight." Luke had said to her, as Lorelai watched the proceedings from their porch._

 _Rory's mind came back to life and she squirmed, kicking backwards as hard as she could, hitting his shin. He groaned and tightened his grip on her arm, but she pulled her leg farther forward this time, getting a better angle, and kicked back again, this time hitting him squarely in the crotch._

 _He stumbled and swore, twisting her arm even further and she screamed from the white hot pain searing through her wrist. She kicked him again and again, trying to hit her main target, but mostly showing that she wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to go down without fighting back._

 _"You fight more than the other ones." He growled in her ear._

 _He seemed to pull the pipe out of nowhere, and in a split second she heard the whistling sound of metal swinging through air and then a crunch as it connected with her leg._


	17. Chapter 17

_"You fight more than the other ones." He growled in her ear._

 _He seemed to pull the pipe out of nowhere, and in a split second she heard the whistling sound of metal swinging through the air and then a crunch as it connected with her leg._

 _She screamed as pain shot through her leg. He stood, looming over her, the pipe dangling from his hand._

 _"It'll go a lot faster if you're quiet." He remarked casually, seeming to contemplate his next move._

 _Rory shuffled backwards away from him as best she could, using her arms and right leg to push off of while dragging her left leg. He laughed and the sound was so disturbing that Rory stopped what she was doing, frightened to move another inch._

 _"You think you can get away from me? People always wonder how so much crime happens in this city. It's so busy, they say, how can a crime be missed? Well, exactly like this. A dark alley on a quiet, residential street. I've been following you for weeks. I know where you go, what time you leave, the route you take home. A little planning ahead and its almost too easy."_

 _"Who are you?" Rory managed to say, her teeth clamped with pain._

 _"Even if you figure out, you can't prove who I am, so don't bother." He responded, completely confident in his disguise._

 _And he was right. He was average height and build, the mask covered his face and hair completely, and his voice was being altered by something. Throw in the fact that pretty much every body part was covered, it would be difficult to identify him for sure._

 _"I'm supposed to meet someone tonight, he'll come looking for me if I don't show up." Rory said, trying a different tactic._

 _"And who is this, a boyfriend? Must be pretty new, I haven't seen you with anyone." He sneered and Rory shook visibly at the thought of this guy knowing that much about her life._

 _"As a matter of fact, yes. We are getting back together and he knows me better than anyone. If I don't show up when and where we are supposed to meet, he'll come to find me." She stated confidently, knowing full well Logan would come and find her, but would it be too late?_

 _Suddenly she was being pulled up by her arm and was thrown against something heavy and metal, a dumpster. Her head made contact with the corner of the container and blood began flowing down her face. Through one eye, she saw him advance again, and cradled her head protectively, trying to shield her face, while turning so that her broken leg was out of the direct line of fire._

 _"You think you can get anyone you want, don't you? Walking around like you own everyone, making guys fall for you and never following through. Girls like you make me sick, thinking they can just use a guy for a few dates and then toss him away when the next good looking one comes along." He snarled in her ear before standing quickly, hearing a sound in the distance._

 _He leaned down one more time, and Rory shrank back, not wanting to be any closer. She could smell the cologne he used, the type she hated, it was sickly sweet and vaguely reminded her of something but her mind was fogging quickly._

 _"The other ones I left and never came back for you, but you ... I might just come back for you. It could days, weeks, months. I'll be watching."_

 _He grabbed the back of her head, whacked it off the side of the dumpster, and watched her eyes close completely, before turning back towards the alleyway entrance. He removed the mask, stuffing it in his jacket pocket, and resisted the urge to look back before turning quickly back onto the street._

Rory woke up with a scream, flinging the sheets off and nearly falling off the bed. Logan grabbed her arm to steady her and hauled her into a sitting position.

"What's wrong?! Are you alright?" He said frantically, trying to adjust her leg back on the pile of pillows at the end of the bed.

Rory put her hands over her face for a minute, willing herself to calm down and think rationally. The horror of what she had realized was coming in waves and she felt like she was going to be sick.

"Rory! Talk to me!" Logan demanded, fearing she would start hyperventilating.

"I know who it was, oh my God. I know who it is. He said I wouldn't be able to figure out, and even if I did, I couldn't prove it, but I know who it is, Logan." Rory finally said in a dazed voice.

"Who?!"

"Call the police, I only want to tell this story once." She responded.

* * *

45 minutes later, Detectives Cruz and McNally were sitting in the living room, with Logan and Lorelai each sitting next to Rory on the couch. Rory had just recapped the attack, Lorelai trying not to cry and Logan trying not to let his anger get the best of him.

"You say you know who he is, Ms. Gilmore, but you didn't see his face or any distinctive markings, like a tattoo or a birthmark. How you do know?" Detective Cruz asked, both officers with pens and notebooks in hand.

"His cologne, it was strong and sweet, too sweet, kind of like something gone bad? I've only ever smelled it on one person before. That combined with what he said about going out on a few dates before moving on ... " Rory paused, still feeling like she was going to barf.

"Ok, not enough to identify 100%, but certainly worth an in depth investigation. What is his name? How do you know him?"

"His name is Josh Atkins, he works in advertising at the Times. We went out maybe 5 times, I wasn't into it but he was very persuasive. Once Logan came back in the picture, I broke things off with him a few weeks ago. He was pushy, angry even, but I never thought ... anyways, he wears that cologne. It was one of the things I disliked most about him, shallow as that may be."

Logan fought every fiber in his being that was screaming at him to go find this guy and put an end to him. Even though it was clear Rory wouldn't have dated Josh much longer anyways, Logan felt momentarily guilty that him coming back into Rory's life led to this.

"You realize we can't just go in and arrest him, its a good lead, but we need evidence. Clear, 100% unshakable evidence that he did this." Detective McNally said, still jotting down notes.

"He said he'd come back for me. So let him come back. Would that be enough evidence for you?" Rory responded, sarcastically.

"Rory, no - " Lorelai began, before she was cut off by Detective Cruz.

"If you are sure this is the guy, we can follow him, but he needs to be caught in the act, or just about to be, for it to be a no questions asked conviction. If he's done this to you, its likely he's done it to others." Detective Cruz said.

"I'm pretty sure he has, Detectives. Our friend Doyle has rounded up a number of cases with similar scenarios, they've all been forwarded to my lawyer. I can have him send everything over to you first thing in the morning." Logan interjected, wanting both to point out subtly that he was innocent and that a lot of legwork had already been done.

"Thank you, Mr. Huntzberger, please do that. I'm sure it will be invaluable to us." Detective Cruz said, holding eye contact with Logan for a moment, as close to an apology as he would ever get.

"I'm willing to do it," Rory said, "if it gets him locked away and keeps it from happening to someone else, I'll do it. Just tell me what you need."


	18. Chapter 18

The plan went into effect the following week. Rory had been transferred into a walking boot and was able to get around a little better. She knew the easiest place to find Josh was at the Times offices, so she made an appointment to see her editor just before lunchtime. Logan arranged for a car, and waited around the corner while Lorelai and Rory went into the meeting. Several undercover police officers were stationed around the perimeter of the building, just in case something happened.

Neither Lorelai or Logan were a fan of Rory putting herself out there as bait, but she argued that if Josh saw she was out and about again, he would be more likely to start following her once more. Both McNally and Cruz agreed that it made the most sense, and promised that Rory would be safe.

After Rory's meeting, Lorelai and Rory made their way down to the employee cafeteria on the 5th floor. It was a near guarantee that Josh would be in there between 12 and 1 pm, and it was the best way Rory could make it known that she was getting around again. Rory and Lorelai took a table towards the middle of the room, along the windowed wall, making it easy for them to keep an eye on the entrance.

Like clockwork, just after 12:30 pm, Rory caught sight of some of the advertising group, Josh among them. They made their way into the serving line, and Rory's stomach lurched at the thought of Josh seeing her. She took a deep breath, knowing it had to be done.

"He's here, look towards the hot food line." Rory said quietly to Lorelai, who was drinking a large cup of coffee while scanning the room.

"Are you sure you are ok with this?" Lorelai responded, her eyes never leaving Josh.

"I'm sure. And its too late now anyways. The sooner this is over, the better."

Rory looked for someone else she knew in the advertising group, and made eye contact with Holly, a young advertising executive she had met a few weeks after beginning at the Times. They occasionally ran into each other in the cafeteria and made small talk in the lobby. Holly couldn't keep a secret, and she was the perfect person to notice Rory. Holly smiled and waved, and then turned to the rest of the group, pointing over to Rory's table. Holly and a few others made their way over, Josh among them.

"Rory, so good to see you! Are you back or just visiting?" Holly said excitedly, not noticing the intense stare Josh was giving Rory.

"Hey, Holly. Just stopped in to see my editor, pick up some leads, getting bored, ya know? I should be back part time in a few weeks and then transition back to full time. Oh, this is my mom, Lorelai." Rory responded.

Holly and the others introduced themselves to Lorelai, but Josh remained towards the back of the group, his eyes never leaving Rory. She shifted uncomfortably, hoping he would think it was from her leg being propped up on a chair, and tried not to flinch.

"Well, kids, hate to break this up, but I do need to get Rory back home, we're only doing short trips out right now. Nice to meet all of you." Lorelai said, breaking up the conversation politely. She had noticed Josh's stare and it was making her sick.

With well wishes for Rory, the group moved over to a bigger table, Josh lingering behind them. Just as Rory had gotten balanced on the crutches, he turned around and his voice nearly knocked her over.

"See you soon, Rory." Josh said in a cold, detached voice.

Rory's arms shook as she tried to adjust the crutches properly, Lorelai catching her arm before she fell backwards into the chair. They looked up and Josh was gone, having joined the rest of his group, sitting with his back towards them.

"He is seriously creepy, Rory." Lorelai whispered as they made their way out of the cafeteria. Rory nodded, unsure of her voice, and crutched as fast as she could to the elevators.

* * *

Later that afternoon, the detectives called Rory while Lorelai and Logan sat with her in the living room.

"We don't want to take the chance now of coming in and out of your apartment. We want him to think that we are oblivious, suspecting nothing, consider the case closed. There are plain clothes officers that have been assigned 24/7 to your block, and will be on the lookout for him. Anything you need, you call us."

"What next? He heard that I won't be back in the office for a few weeks."

"Try to get back to some sort of normal routine, visit some of your usual places if you can, particularly the coffeeshop. Its an easy place for him to find you, with those windows in the front. When you're ready, let us know and we will have officers in place ahead of time. If we can observe and document him following you, we will have an easier time getting the OK to put a trail on him round the clock."

The three of them sat in silence for a moment after the phone called ended, not sure what to do or say. The doorbell rang suddenly, and Rory nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Are we expecting anyone?" Logan asked as he got up to look at the video monitor.

"Luke said he was coming back with some food, but I wasn't expecting him until much later." Lorelai responded.

Both Logan and Lorelai smiled at the scene on the video monitor and Logan buzzed the visitors in. A few minutes later, arguing could be heard on the stairs before the door burst open.

"Jackson! I told you not to hold the tray like that! I want the sauce to be distributed evenly - oh, we're here!" Sookie yelled at sight of the opened door.

"Sookie!" Rory yelled back as Sookie came barreling in, juggling trays, with Jackson and a very annoyed Luke behind her.

"You've brought enough food for 50 people." Logan said in awe, as Sookie began quickly rummaging through the fridge, making a face at a container of something unidentifiable before tossing in the garbage.

"Well I have to make up for the time I've been in California! I am so glad to be back and see you, Rory! There's so much to catch up on." Sookie responded as she directed Jackson to set up several trays on the open counter space.

Lorelai laughed as Luke dragged a cooler into the front hall and began emptying drinks and various condiments. There was still a long road ahead of them, but at least they would have good food and friends to help out in the mean time.


End file.
